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Recluse spider


Recluse spider
Photo Information
Copyright: Enio Branco (Brutamonte) Silver Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 12 W: 0 N: 52] (705)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-05-22
Categories: Spiders
Camera: Sony W50
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-05-23 7:50
Viewed: 1047
Points: 4
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note [Portuguese]
Recluse spider
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The recluse spiders (genus Loxosceles), also known as fiddle-back or violin spiders, are a venomous genus of spiders known for their necrotic bite. They are members of the family Sicariidae, having formerly been placed in their own family, "Loxoscelidae".

Loxosceles is distributed nearly worldwide in warmer areas, and are often known as violin spiders or fiddlebacks. All have six eyes arranged in three groups of two (dyads) and are usually brownish with a darker brown characteristic violin marking on the cephalothorax. Most Loxosceles can live for one and a half to two years. Members of both genera can live for very long times without food or water.

The recluse spider family includes about 13 species in the United States, the brown recluse spider (Loxosceles reclusa) being the best known of these. It is found in a large area of the Midwest, west to Colorado and the New Mexico state line and east to Northern Georgia. Sporadic records from other locations only represent incidental introductions, not established populations.
Other notable members of this genus include the Chilean recluse (L. laeta) and the Mediterranean recluse (Loxosceles rufescens).

Venom components and effects

Loxosceles spiders, like their cousins in Sicarius, have potent tissue-destroying venoms containing the dermonecrotic agent, sphingomyelinase D, which is otherwise found only in a few pathogenic bacteria. This venom is highly necrotic in effect, capable of causing lesions (open sores) as large as a US quarter. The wounds take a long time to heal and may require skin grafts. If these open wounds become infected there are often serious consequences. Rarely, the venom is carried by the blood stream to internal organs causing systemic effects.
The Chilean recluse (Loxosceles laeta) supposedly has a more potent venom, which results in systemic involvement more often. This spider was accidentally introduced to the Los Angeles area (Alhambra, Sierra Madre, and Monterey Park). This spider, however, seems to be confined to a very limited area, even though it has lived there for over 30 years. Other members of the genus that have been tested have venoms similar to the brown recluse and all members of this genus are best avoided. However, the brown recluse and its relatives are not very aggressive and huge populations have been found in houses where the human inhabitants remained unbitten after years of cohabitation.
A possible problem with diagnosing a recluse spider bite is that the bite of these spiders is probably both underreported in some areas and over reported generally. Unfortunately several diseases can mimic the lesions of a recluse spider bite, including Lyme disease, various fungal and bacterial infections and the first sore of syphilis. Therefore it is extremely important to associate the spider directly with the bite, if at all possible, and consider alternative diagnoses if no spider was seen.
Generally, recluse spiders are usually found in the center of a sort of space web of fungal-like silk, which often contains the remains of their recent meals. For the Arizona recluse (Loxosceles arizonica) the most abundant food item seems to be night-active ants like carpenter ants. The brown recluse is known to feed on whatever small prey is available, and this is probably true of all sicariids.

Species
Loxosceles accepta Chamberlin, 1920 — Peru
Loxosceles adelaida Gertsch, 1967 — Brazil
Loxosceles alamosa Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles alicea Gertsch, 1967 — Peru
Loxosceles amazonica Gertsch, 1967 — Brazil
Loxosceles anomala (Mello-Leitγo, 1917) — Brazil
Loxosceles apachea Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — USA, Mexico
Loxosceles aphrasta Wang, 1994 — China
Loxosceles aranea Gertsch, 1973 — Mexico
Loxosceles arizonica Gertsch & Mulaik, 1940 — USA
Loxosceles aurea Gertsch, 1973 — Mexico
Loxosceles baja Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles barbara Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles belli Gertsch, 1973 — Mexico
Loxosceles bettyae Gertsch, 1967 — Peru
Loxosceles blancasi Gertsch, 1967 — Peru
Loxosceles blanda Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — USA
Loxosceles boneti Gertsch, 1958 — Mexico, El Salvador
Loxosceles candela Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles caribbaea Gertsch, 1958 — Greater Antilles
Loxosceles carmena Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles chinateca Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles colima Gertsch, 1958 — Mexico
Loxosceles conococha Gertsch, 1967 — Peru
Loxosceles coquimbo Gertsch, 1967 — Chile
Loxosceles coyote Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles cubana Gertsch, 1958 — Cuba, Bahama Islands
Loxosceles deserta Gertsch, 1973 — USA, Mexico
Loxosceles devia Gertsch & Mulaik, 1940 — USA, Mexico
Loxosceles fontainei Millot, 1941 — Guinea
Loxosceles foutadjalloni Millot, 1941 — Guinea
Loxosceles francisca Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles frizzelli Gertsch, 1967 — Peru
Loxosceles gaucho Gertsch, 1967 — Brazil, Tunisia
Loxosceles gloria Gertsch, 1967 — Ecuador, Peru
Loxosceles guatemala Gertsch, 1973 — Guatemala
Loxosceles harrietae Gertsch, 1967 — Peru
Loxosceles herreri Gertsch, 1967 — Peru
Loxosceles hirsuta Mello-Leitγo, 1931 — Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina
Loxosceles huasteca Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles immodesta (Mello-Leitγo, 1917) — Brazil
Loxosceles inca Gertsch, 1967 — Peru
Loxosceles insula Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles intermedia Mello-Leitγo, 1934 — Brazil, Argentina
Loxosceles jaca Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles jamaica Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Jamaica
Loxosceles jarmila Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Jamaica
Loxosceles julia Gertsch, 1967 — Peru
Loxosceles kaiba Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — USA
Loxosceles lacroixi Millot, 1941 — Ivory Coast
Loxosceles lacta Wang, 1994 — China
Loxosceles laeta (Nicolet, 1849) — America, introduced to Finland and Australia
Loxosceles lawrencei Caporiacco, 1955 — Venezuela, Trinidad, Curaηao
Loxosceles lutea Keyserling, 1877 — Colombia, Ecuador
Loxosceles luteola Gertsch, 1973 — Mexico
Loxosceles manuela Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles martha Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — USA
Loxosceles meruensis Tullgren, 1910 — Tanzania
Loxosceles misteca Gertsch, 1958 — Mexico
Loxosceles mulege Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles nahuana Gertsch, 1958 — Mexico
Loxosceles neuvillei Simon, 1909 — Somalia, East Africa
Loxosceles olmea Gertsch, 1967 — Peru
Loxosceles pallidecolorata (Strand, 1906) — Ethiopia
Loxosceles palma Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — USA, Mexico
Loxosceles panama Gertsch, 1958 — Panama
Loxosceles parrami Newlands, 1981 — South Africa
Loxosceles piura Gertsch, 1967 — Peru
Loxosceles pucara Gertsch, 1967 — Peru
Loxosceles puortoi Martins, Knysak & Bertani, 2002 — Brazil
Loxosceles reclusa Gertsch & Mulaik, 1940 — North America
Loxosceles rica Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Costa Rica
Loxosceles rosana Gertsch, 1967 — Peru
Loxosceles rothi Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles rufescens (Dufour, 1820) — Cosmopolitan
Loxosceles rufipes (Lucas, 1834) — Guatemala, Panama, Colombia
Loxosceles russelli Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — USA
Loxosceles sabina Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — USA
Loxosceles seri Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles similis Moenkhaus, 1898 — Brazil
Loxosceles smithi Simon, 1897 — Ethiopia
Loxosceles sonora Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles spadicea Simon, 1907 — Peru, Bolivia, Argentina
Loxosceles speluncarum Simon, 1893 — South Africa
Loxosceles spinulosa Purcell, 1904 — Southern Africa
Loxosceles surca Gertsch, 1967 — Peru
Loxosceles taeniopalpis Simon, 1907 — Ecuador
Loxosceles taino Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Bahama Islands, Jamaica, Hispaniola
Loxosceles tehuana Gertsch, 1958 — Mexico
Loxosceles tenango Gertsch, 1973 — Mexico
Loxosceles teresa Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles tlacolula Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Mexico
Loxosceles valdosa Gertsch, 1973 — Mexico
Loxosceles valida Lawrence, 1964 — South Africa
Loxosceles variegata Simon, 1897 — Paraguay
Loxosceles virgo Gertsch & Ennik, 1983 — Virgin Islands
Loxosceles vonwredei Newlands, 1980 — Namibia
Loxosceles weyrauchi Gertsch, 1967 — Peru
Loxosceles yucatana Chamberlin & Ivie, 1938 — Mexico, Belize, Guatemala
Loxosceles zapoteca Gertsch, 1958 — Mexico

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Critiques [Translate]

wow, that's alot of info, very nice, good detail on it's fiddle pattern, I live in an area that is common with Brown Recluse, but have never seen one

Enio,
Many Loxosceles apparently...and thus a lot of work to do:-).
Well done
TFS
Annick

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