Leptofreya ambigua spiders are native to northern South America and were originally described from Surinam. Edwards’ and Ruiz’ recent research determined that this and two other South American species in fact represent a single species. A handful of records for one of these, formerly referred to as F. perelegans, indicate the species had been introduced in Florida by the late 1990s. Texas records for F. (perelegans) ambigua in the 1980s and 1990s as well as recent observations from Cameron (see video) and Hidalgo Counties may simply indicate a second introduction. The possibility exists, however, that southern Texas is part of the spider’s native range. The absence of Central American records for F. ambigua as well as the occurrence of two similar Leptofreya species in Central America argues against such a northwards dispersal.
Edwards and Ruiz, 2013