Sicarius rugosus (F.O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899)

Sicarius rugosus (F.O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899) View in CoL

( Figs. 1 View Figure 1 A-D)

Diagnosis. Males of S. rugosus ( Fig. 1A View Figure 1 ) are distinguished by the very short bulb with a long curved embolus ( Figs. 1 View Figure 1 C-D; Magalhaes et al. 2017: Figs. 60A-C). Females ( Fig. 1B View Figure 1 ) are distinguished by having few short and robust branches in the spermathecae, in addition to the absence of ventral branches (see Magalhaes et al. 2017: Figs. 60E-J).

Material examined. Guatemala: Department of Zacapa: municipality of Cabañas: Aldea El Arenal , Natural Reserve for the Conservation of Heloderma , 1 male ( UVGC 0008481 View Materials ), 15/01/2021, Jiichiro Yoshimoto, collected with light trap ; same data (14.883333, -89.783333, elevation: 510 m), 1 immature ( UVGC 0008482 View Materials ), 29/03/2021, K. Herrera, found under a rock GoogleMaps ; same data (14.883333, -89.783333, elevation: 510 m), 1 immature found under a log ( UVGC 0008483 View Materials ) 29/03/2021, department of El Progreso, Momoto Dormido Biological Station (14.8172805, -90.1290766, elevation: 842 m), 1 female (not collected, photographed, Fig. 1B View Figure 1 ), 04/01/2023, K. Herrera, found next to a cement block near the “Momoto Dormido” Biological scientific station GoogleMaps .

Distribution. Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica (WSC 2024) and now recorded to Guatemala ( Fig. 2 View Figure 2 ). New country record.

Natural history. The specimens were collected in fragments of xeric and dry forest (seasonal dry forest) in the departments of El Progreso and Zacapa. The vegetation of the area is characterized by a thorny shrubland (mainly consisting of small shrubs, columnar cacti, and creeping cacti) and a tall dry forest (large trees reaching up to 25 m in height, such as the dry forest oak Bucida macrostachya or yaje Leucaena spp. ) ( Ariano et al. 2017). Females of Sicarius rugosus were found living in areas with a human-related structures, in particular under nylon tarps ( Fig. 3) and construction material discarded. Males were found under dry logs, in El Progreso and Zacapa. The soil from where the spiders were collected was sandy, very rocky and with abundant leaves and dry branches on the ground. Males and females of this species were collected between 12:00 h and 23:30. In the case of males, it is very likely that during the afternoon and night they are active in search of females as well as in obtaining food. Regarding the female, she was found in her shelter, which could indicate that during the day she takes shelter and at night she is more active.

Comments. The documentation of S. rugosus from Guatemala represents the northernmost record for the species. The specimens of S. rugosus were found alive in human-related infrastructure, making it possible potential incidents with people. These results are similar to those of the species in Honduras, where Cubas-RodrÍguez & Brescovit (2024) mentioned that S. rugosus was found few meters from houses and in proximity to cattle.

It seems that S. rugosus could be considered a synanthropic or at least hemisynanthropic species, given its background in Honduras and Guatemala. In the case of Costa Rica and El Salvador, as far as we know, they have not been found near human dwellings, although in Guatemala it seems that this species is found in inter-domiciliary habitats, since it was found near a house, which is within the Momoto Dormido refuge, said refuge is at a distance of one kilometer from a large community known as “El Jute”.

Future studies are needed to address this aspect in order to know if these encounters are actually fortuitous, if they are related to the construction of houses, buildings, in habitats frequented by S. rugosus or if this species can actually be considered synanthropic, since current data from Honduras ( Cubas-RodrÍguez & Brescovit 2024), as in Guatemala, are few, because S. rugosus has been recorded in one or two locations in these countries, this could be influenced by the poor dispersion that these spiders present ( Magalhaes et al. 2017), or by the great lack of arachnological studies.

Finally, our findings expand the distribution range of S. rugosus to five Central American countries. Magalhaes et al. (2021) predicted a distribution from southernmost area of Chiapas ( Mexico), north of Costa Rica. Since then, we have reported new populations in Honduras ( Cubas-RodrÍguez & Brescovit 2024) and Guatemala (this paper). Following the prediction, it could be possible to find the species lives in the border regions of dry forest between Guatemala and Chiapas ( Mexico).