background: the best-known dangerous spiders belong to the six genera. the genus loxosceles or violin spiders are well known for their ability to cause skin necrosis or loxoscelism. all loxosceles species have medical im­portance due to their necrotizing venom. the present article reports the occurrence of l. rufescens in charkhab cave, south of iran (larestan). methods: the specimens were coll...

Citation: Lima SA, Guerra-Duarte C, Costal-Oliveira F, Mendes TM, Figueiredo LFM, Oliveira D, Machado de Avila RA, Ferrer VP, Trevisan-Silva D, Veiga SS, Minozzo JC, Kalapothakis E and Chávez-Olórtegui C (2018) Recombinant Protein Containing B-Cell Epitopes of Different Loxosceles Spider Toxins Generates Neutralizing Antibodies in Immunized Rabbits. Front. Immunol. 9:653. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.201...

BACKGROUND Loxoscelism is a severe reaction to the bite of the spider Loxosceles laeta. In recent years, a paint with repellent properties has been promoted in the commerce. However, there are no reports of experiments evaluating its effectiveness. AIM To evaluate experimentally the repellent properties of a paint against Loxosceles laeta. MATERIAL AND METHODS Males, females and nymphs of L...

Envenomation by Loxosceles spider can result in two clinical manifestations: cutaneous and systemic loxoscelism, the latter of which includes renal failure. Although incidence of renal failure is low, it is the main cause of death, occurring mainly in children. The sphingomyelinase D (SMase D) is the main component in Loxosceles spider venom responsible for local and systemic manifestations. Th...

The spider bites are quite frequent and often resolve quickly without leaving outcomes; only some species are capable of causing necrotic and systematic lesions in humans. Among them, we should mention the genus Loxosceles. The venom released from the spider bite of Loxosceles species is composed of proteins, enzymes, and nonenzymatic polypeptides. The phospholipase D family was identified as t...

Spider envenomation, from the genus Loxosceles, is frequently reported as a cause of necrotic lesions in humans around the world. Among the many components found in the venom of Loxosceles genus, phospholipases D (PLDs) are the most investigated, since they can cause a massive inflammatory response, dermonecrosis, hemolysis and platelet aggregation, among other effects. Even though the PLDs ind...

In a previous experimental study, recluse spiders Loxosceles reclusa Gertsch and Mulaik and Loxosceles laeta (Nicolet) (Araneae: Sicariidae) preferred small cardboard refugia covered with conspecific silk compared with never-occupied refugia. Herein, we investigated some factors that might be responsible for this preference using similar cardboard refugia. When the two Loxosceles species were g...

Loxosceles rufescens, commonly known as the Mediterranean Recluse or Mediterranean Fiddle-Back Spider is recorded from Iran for the first time. The genus Loxosceles contains 103 accepted species, two of them (including L. rufescens) are cosmopolitan. All Loxosceles species tested so far possess necrotic venoms, which is a unique characteristic among the Order Araneae. Considering this character...

Brown recluse spider (Loxosceles reclusa) envenomations with subsequent necrotic skin lesions occur infrequently, and systemic loxoscelism is rarer still. We report a case of 2 successive developing necrotic lesions, each on adjacent medial aspects of the legs, secondary to presumed Loxosceles envenomation. A 31-year-old man with no significant past medical history presented to the emergency de...