Presence of the genus Loxosceles in the municipalities of San Benito and Tolata Cochabamba-Bolivia

Abstract

The genus Loxosceles is widely distributed in the five continents. In Latin America, L. laeta,L. reclusa,L. gaucho and L. intermedia were reported and described in countries adjacent to Bolivia. The genus Loxosceles is of medical importance due to the dangerousness of its venom for human health, causing loxoscelismo, a condition that can have serious and lethal consequences. In the study, specimens were identified from the municipalities of San Benito and Tolata in the department of Cochabamba-Bolivia. After taxonomic revision, they were catalogued as Loxosceles, which increases the geographical distribution of the genus for Bolivia. This is important due to the health risk to the inhabitants of the region in urban and peri-urban areas, and it is therefore recommended that further studies be carried out to expand the data for their identification.

Keywords

• loxosceles; arachnids; bolivia; cochabamba; tolata; san benito