Loxosceles

Loxosceles

 [lok-sos´ĕ-lēz]

a genus of six-eyed spiders, some of which have poisonous bites (see spider bite). L. lae´ta is a brown spider of South America and L. reclu´sa is the brown recluse spider of North America.

Loxosceles

(loks-os'ĕ-lēz),

A genus of venomous brown spiders, marked by a fiddle-shaped pattern on the cephalothorax and a distinct six-eye pattern, found chiefly in South America. They inflict a highly ulcerative, spreading dermal lesion at the site of the bite (loxoscelism). Important species include L. laeta, the Chilean brown recluse spider, also found in Brazil, where L. intermedia and L. gaucho also present important human risk; and L. rufipes, the Peruvian brown spider. In North America, L. reclusus, the brown recluse spider is the most important, occurring across a large portion of the south central midwestern U.S.; L. deserta, L, arizonica, L. apachea, L. blanda, and L. devia also bite humans.

Loxosceles

(lŏks-ŏs′sĕ-lēz)

A genus of spiders, family Loxoscelidae, which includes the brown recluse spider.