Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Loxosceles laeta
Araña violinista, Violin spiders
Ambush hunter. Littoral zone, dunes, low Arid zone, Bursera forest; Scalesia forest on Floreana.
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
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
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
- 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.