Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

Loxosceles laeta (Nicolet, 1849)

Araña violinista, Violin spiders

Ambush hunter. Littoral zone, dunes, low Arid zone, Bursera forest; Scalesia forest on Floreana.

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Arthropoda

Class
Arachnida

Order
Araneae

Superfamily
Scytodoidea

Family
Sicariidae

Genus
Loxosceles

Species
laeta

Taxon category: Accepted

Synonyms: Loxosceles longipalpis Banks, 1902. Syntype of L. longipalpis: Museum of Comparative Zoology (MZC).

Origin: Introduced - established

Introduction

Year of first record: 1980

Mode of introduction: Accidental

Introduction Pathway: Stowaway

Subpathway: Hitchhiker on transport vehicles/cargo

Introduced status: Naturalized

Invasive status: No data

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: America, Worldwide introduced. Galápagos distribution: Champion, Española, Floreana, Gardner nr Española, Genovesa, Isabela, N. Plaza, Pinta, Pinzón, Rábida, San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz, Santa Fé, Santiago

References

  • Baert, L. Jean-Pierre Maelfait, Konjev Desender, Frederik Hendrickx (2023) Updated checklist, origin, distribution, literature and genital drawings of the spiders of the Galápagos Islands Belgian Journal of Entomology 142: 1–188.
  • Baert, L.L. Maelfait, J.P. & Desender, K. (1989) Results of the Belgian 1988-expedition to the Galápagos Islands: Araneae. Bull. Inst. R. Sci. Nat. Belg. Entomol. 59: 5-22.
  • Baert, L.L. Maelfait, J.-P. (2000) Check List of the Described Spider Species of the Galápagos Archipelago (Araneae). Bull. Inst. R. Sci. Nat. Belg. Entomol. 70: 243-245.
  • Baert, L.L. Malfait, J.-P., Hendrickx, F. & Desender, K. (2008) Distribution and Habitat Preference of the Spiders (Araneae) of Galápagos. Bull. Inst. R. Sci. Nat. Belg. Entomol. 78: 39-111.
  • Buchholz, S. Baert, L., Rodríguez, J., E Causton, C., & Jäger, H. (2020) Spiders in Galapagos–diversity, biogeography and origin. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 130(1), 41-48.
  • Gertsch, W. J. (1967) The spider genus Loxosceles in South America (Araneae, Scytodidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 136: 117-174.
  • Roth, V.D. Craig, P.R. (1970) Arachnida of the Galápagos Islands (Excluding Acarina). Mission zoologique belge aux îles Galapagos et en Ecuador (N. et J. Leleup, 1964-1965), 2: 107-124.

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Loxosceles laeta", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=6593. Accessed 3 April 2026.