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Issue: Vol. 4318 No. 2: 7 Sept. 2017
Type: Article
Published: 2017-09-07
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4318.2.10
Page range: 377–387
Abstract views: 172
PDF downloaded: 1

A new species of Loxosceles Heineken & Lowe, 1832 (Araneae: Sicariidae)
from Iranian caves

Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Shiraz, Shiraz, Iran
School of Biology, College of Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Shiraz, Shiraz, Iran
Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio) and Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Universitat de Barcelona. Av. Diagonal, 643. 08028—Barcelona, Spain
Araneae Taxonomy Loxosceles persica n. sp. endemism Middle East

Abstract

In this paper, a new spider species of the genus Loxosceles is described on the basis of morphological and molecular data. The phylogenetic relationship of the new species is discussed through the lens of molecular data (cox1, rrnL and H3 genes). Specimens were collected from three Iranian caves in the provinces of Fars, Yazd and Khuzestan, and the specimens showed morphological characteristics that allowed us to easily distinguish Loxosceles persica n. sp. from L. mrazig, which is its sister species, and from the cosmopolitan L. rufescens, which is a widely distributed species throughout the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East. It is the first Loxosceles species endemic to the Middle East.

 

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