On Chilean Loxosceles (Araneae: Sicariidae): first description of the males of L. surca and L. coquimbo, new records of L. laeta and three remarkable new species from coastal deserts

Abstract

Loxosceles Heineken & Lowe, 1832 spiders are infamous for their medical importance, but a taxonomic picture of the genus is still far from complete. In this study, the Chilean species of Loxosceles are described and mapped. The males of Loxosceles surca Gertsch, 1967 and L. coquimbo Gertsch, 1967 are described for the first time. Three new species with narrow distributions are described from central and northern Chile: Loxosceles diaguita sp. nov. from the Antofagasta Region, L. pallalla sp. nov. from Coquimbo and L. vallenar sp. nov. from Atacama. The first two species are remarkable in their morphology and do not fit into any of Gertsch’s species groups, suggesting that Chile still harbours an undiscovered phylogenetic diversity of the genus. New distribution records for Loxosceles laeta (Nicolet, 1849) are provided throughout Chile.