Description of six new species ofLoxosceles(Araneae: Sicariidae) endemic to the Canary Islands and the utility of DNA barcoding for their fast and accurate identification

Abstract

We conducted an integrative taxonomic study of a radiation of Loxosceles spiders endemic to the Canary Islands combining molecular (mtDNA and nDNA) and morphological data. This led to the formal description of six new species: Loxosceles mahan sp. nov. endemic to Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, and adjacent islets; Loxosceles bentejui sp. nov. and Loxosceles tazarte sp. nov. both endemic to Gran Canaria; Loxosceles guayota sp. nov. and Loxosceles tibicena sp. nov. both endemic to Tenerife; and Loxosceles hupalupa sp. nov. endemic to La Gomera and El Hierro. These new species are included in the Loxosceles rufescens group, and are clearly distinguished from L. rufescens by a conspicuous dark V‐mark posteriorly on the pars cephalica, the embolus length, and the shape of seminal receptacles. Given that a crucial step for the development of proper health management is the correct identification of the species involved in bite accidents, we additionally tested the efficacy of DNA barcoding as a fast and reliable tool for identifying the Loxosceles species found in the Canary Islands, including the human‐introduced L. rufescens. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London

Biogeography of the Caribbean Cyrtognatha spiders

“…Amongst island systems some of the best studied in terms of biogeographic research are Hawaii 6–8 , Galapagos 9–11 , Azores 12–14 , Canary 15–17 and Solomon 18–20 islands, as well as large continental fragments such as Madagascar 21–23 and New Zealand 24–26 . However, the Caribbean island system 27–30 is the single most ‘published’ island system in biogeography literature (Google Scholar title hits 237 compared with 195 for the second, New Zealand).…”

Four new troglophilic species of Loxosceles Heinecken & Lowe, 1832: contributions to the knowledge of recluse spiders from Brazilian caves (Araneae, Sicariidae)

“…More recently, at least two species were known to have a single large lobe at apex, L.mahan Planas & Ribera, 2015 from Canary Islands and L.willianilsoni , from Brazil (Fukushima et al 2017). We consider that the main characters shared by females of rufescens / amazonica group is the spermathecae triangular shape, two free receptacles (not attached to a transverse sclerotized plate) with large basal transverse openings with or without sclerotized edges and two dark sclerotized lateral bands with distinct levels of sclerotization depending on the species (see Planas and Ribera 2015 and Fukushima et al 2017 for spermathecae variation). Loxoscelescardosoi sp.…”

“…Most of the species found in the New World were described by Gertsch and Mulaik (1940), Gertsch (1958, 1967, 1973), and Gertsch and Ennik (1983). After these significant revisions, very few species were described (Wang 1994, Martins et al 2002), but more recently, Loxosceles is again receiving attention with several new species described (Ribera and Planas 2009, Duncan et al 2010, Bertani et al 2010, González-Sponga 2010, Gonçalves-de-Andrade et al 2012, Sánchez-Ruiz and Brescovit 2013, Planas and Ribera 2015, Cala-Riquelme et al 2015, Fukushima et al 2017, Tahami et al 2017; Lotz 2017; Brescovit et al 2017; Souza and Ferreira 2018).…”

Evidence for Miocene overwater colonization in CaribbeanCyrtognathaspiders

“…Amongst island systems some of the best studied in terms of biogeographic research are Hawaii 6–8 , Galapagos 9–11 , Azores 12–14 , Canary 15–17 and Solomon 18–20 islands, as well as large continental fragments such as Madagascar 21–23 and New Zealand 24–26 . However, the Caribbean island system 27–30 is the single most ‘published’ island system in biogeography literature (Google Scholar title hits 237 compared with 195 for the second, New Zealand).…”