Linothele is a genus of curtain web spiders that was first described by Ferdinand Karsch in 1879. All but one of the described species are from South America (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela) and adjacent Panama. The exception is L. septentrionalis from the far-away Bahamas, although it has certain features that suggest it may belong in another genus.
Linothele females are stouter and tend to be more conspicuously colored than males. They make relatively complex webs that in most species are on or near the ground, mudbanks or rock walls (a few are arboreal), with females spending most of their life in a tunnel-like retreat. The male may wander and often inhabits a smaller web near a female's. The webs of Linothele species are commonly co-inhabited by tiny kleptoparasitic spiders of the genus Mysmenopsis.
Venom In humans, bites from Linothele typically cause mild pain and a numbness/tingling feeling that can last for a few days. They are generally reluctant to bite and will attempt to flee, but some species, especially those from dry regions, tend to be more defensive.
The venom of Linothele sp has a LD-50 dose of 0.6 mg/kg in laboratory mice. Two toxins, both of low molecular weight, were isolated in the venom, Ls1 and Ls2. These two toxins have been shown to be quite lethal to laboratory mice by injection into the cerebroventricular region. The lethal dose of Ls1 and Ls2 is 24 and 19 μg/kg respectively, both toxins represent 0.21% and 0.43% of the weight of the whole venom.
Species it contains 67 species:
Linothele abispa Sherwood, Drolshagen, Osorio, Benavides & Seiter, 2023 – Peru Linothele agelenoides Bäckstam, Drolshagen & Seiter, 2023 – Colombia Linothele alausi Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele amazonica Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele anabellecitae Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele angamarca Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele archidona Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele banos Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele canirasi Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele carchi Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele cavicola Goloboff, 1994 – Ecuador Linothele cayambe Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele condor Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele cornigera Penaherrera-R., Guerrero-Campoverde, Leon-E., Pinos-Sanchez & Cisneros-Heredia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele costenita Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele cristata (Mello-Leitão, 1945) – Brazil Linothele cuencana Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele curvitarsis Karsch, 1879 (type) – Venezuela Linothele darien Wermelinger-Moreira, Castanheira & Baptista, 2024 – Panama Linothele fallax (Mello-Leitão, 1926) – Bolivia, Brazil Linothele gaboi Osorio, Benavides, Sherwood, Drolshagen & Seiter, 2023 – Colombia Linothele gaujoni (Simon, 1889) – Ecuador Linothele guacamayos Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele gualaquiza Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele guallupe Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele ilinizas Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele ireneae Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele jarrini Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele jatunsacha Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele javieri Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele jelskii (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896) – Peru Linothele kaysi Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele lacocha Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele lloa Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele longicauda (Ausserer, 1871) – Ecuador Linothele macrothelifera Strand, 1908 – Colombia Linothele megatheloides Paz & Raven, 1990 – Colombia Linothele milleri Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele molleturo Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele monticolens (Chamberlin, 1916) – Peru Linothele mubii Nicoletta, Ochoa, Chaparro & Ferretti, 2022 – Peru Linothele otokiki Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele otoyacu Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele paulistana (Mello-Leitão, 1924) – Brazil Linothele peguche Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele podocarpus Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele pomona Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele pristirana Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele pseudoquori Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele pukachumpi Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 – Ecuador Linothele quori Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 – Ecuador Linothele rionegro Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele septentrionalis Drolshagen & Bäckstam, 2021 – Bahamas Linothele sericata (Karsch, 1879) – Colombia Linothele sexfasciata (Schiapelli & Gerschman, 1945) – Venezuela Linothele sigchila Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele spinosa Drolshagen & Bäckstam, 2021 – Peru Linothele troncal Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele tsachilas Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 – Ecuador Linothele uniformis Drolshagen & Bäckstam, 2021 – Peru Linothele uvalino Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele victoria Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele wallacei Sherwood, Drolshagen, Osorio, Benavides & Seiter, 2023 – Peru Linothele wiwa Osorio, Benavides, Sherwood, Drolshagen & Seiter, 2023 – Colombia Linothele yanachanka Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 – Ecuador Linothele yunguilla Dupérré & Tapia, 2023 – Ecuador Linothele zaia Dupérré & Tapia, 2015 – Ecuador
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