science

Loxosceles speluncarum

Loxosceles speluncarum is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Loxosceles speluncarum rather than just read about it. In short: Loxosceles speluncarum is a species of recluse spider in the family Sicariidae. It is endemic to Gauteng province of South Africa and is commonly known as the Gauteng cave violin spider.

Key takeaways

Loxosceles speluncarum belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Loxosceles speluncarum to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Loxosceles speluncarum from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Loxosceles speluncarum is a species of recluse spider in the family Sicariidae. It is endemic to Gauteng province of South Africa and is commonly known as the Gauteng cave violin spider.

Distribution Loxosceles speluncarum is known only from three cave complexes in the Pretoria area of Gauteng province at altitudes ranging from 1262 to 1498 m above sea level.

Habitat and ecology Loxosceles speluncarum is a troglobite cave species that is more abundant in totally dark areas where they have been recorded from crevices or wandering around on cave walls.

Description

This species of recluse spider features a black violin shape on its back. Specimens in captivity from the Letaba district bear distinct black markings down the dorsal length of their abdomen.

Conservation Loxosceles speluncarum is listed as Vulnerable under criterion D2 by the South African National Biodiversity Institute. The species is known from fewer than three extant locations and is potentially threatened by disturbance of its specialist cave habitat. Surveys about twenty years after the first recordings showed that this species has completely disappeared from two of the caves (Apies River Caves and Monument Caves) and is under severe threat of disappearing from the third cave (Wonderboom Caves). The population in Wonderboom Nature Reserve appears to be protected and safe for the immediate future.

Etymology The specific name speluncarum refers to caves, from the Latin "spelunca" meaning cave.

Taxonomy The species was described by Eugène Simon in 1893 from Fountain Caves, Pretoria. It has been revised by Lotz (2012, 2017) and is known from both sexes. Due to the distance between habitats where this species of spider is found, the influence of the mechanism of gene flow is unknown.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Loxosceles speluncarum

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Loxosceles speluncarum claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Loxosceles speluncarum before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Loxosceles speluncarum ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Loxosceles speluncarum

In research: Loxosceles speluncarum appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Loxosceles speluncarum in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Loxosceles speluncarum is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cave spiders, Endemic spiders of South Africa, Sicariidae, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Loxosceles speluncarum outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Loxosceles speluncarum in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Loxosceles speluncarum means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Loxosceles speluncarum out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Loxosceles speluncarum in simple terms?

Loxosceles speluncarum is a species of recluse spider in the family Sicariidae. It is endemic to Gauteng province of South Africa and is commonly known as the Gauteng cave violin spider.

Why does Loxosceles speluncarum matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Loxosceles speluncarum?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Loxosceles speluncarum.