Two new arthropod toxins purified from the venom of the Mexican scorpion Centruroides nigrescens

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  Two new arthropod toxins purified from the venom of the Mexican scorpion Centruroides nigrescens Abstract The venom of the slender black scorpion Centruroides nigrescens , from the State of Guerrero México, was fractionated by Sephadex G–50 gel filtration, followed by carboxymethyl cellulose ion separation and high–performance liquid chromatography, permitting to obtain two new peptides toxic to arthropods. The estimate LD 50 of the soluble venom for the insect Acheta domesticus was 11.1 μg/g body weight, and for the arthropod Armadillidium vulgare was 61.1 μg body weight . The amino acid sequence of toxin Cnige1 (toxic to A. domesticus and A. vulgare ) contains 65 amino acids, with a molecular mass of 7273.37 mass units, whereas toxin Cnige2, toxic to A. domesticus , contains 68 amino acids, with a molecular mass of 7548.81 units. Both peptides are well packed, containing 8 cysteines, which in the native venoms are forming 4 disulfide bridges each. The amino acid sequences f...

Tree-dwelling wolves: a new arboreal Hogna species (Araneae: Lycosidae) from Taiwan

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 Tree-dwelling wolves: a new arboreal Hogna species (Araneae: Lycosidae) from Taiwan

Abstract 


Hogna Simon, 1885 is one of the most diverse genera of wolf spiders, with species that are almost exclusively grounddwellers. A recent discovery of a tree-hole-living species in Taiwan was therefore surprising. Here, we describe Hogna arborea sp. nov. using a combination of morphological and molecular taxonomic evidence. We also discuss the arboreal lifestyle of this new species and emphasize the need for more detailed ecological research to assess its conservation status.


Lo, Y. Y., Wei, C. & Cheng, R. C. (2023). Tree-dwelling wolves: a new arboreal Hogna species (Araneae: Lycosidae) from Taiwan. Zootaxa 5353(1): 47-59. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5353.1.2