Envenomization with Snake Versus Scorpion Venom: Postmortem Repercussions on the Successional Dynamics of Carcass-Attracted Flies in a Forensic Context

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  Envenomization with Snake Versus Scorpion Venom: Postmortem Repercussions on the Successional Dynamics of Carcass-Attracted Flies in a Forensic Context Abstract Background: Animal venoms may alter postmortem carcass conditions and thereby influence carrion-associated insects. However, it remains unclear whether lethal envenomization affects adult Diptera as a broad assemblage-level response or as taxon-specific changes during decomposition. Methods: Fifteen rabbits were assigned to control, snake-envenomized, or scorpion-envenomized treatments (with five carcasses each). Carcasses were exposed under semi-natural conditions, until complete dryness, over 11 days postmortem. Adult flies were collected daily for analyzing abundance at total, family, and selected species levels, using negative GLMM, with carcass identity as a random effect and postmortem day as a nonlinear predictor. Results: A total of 5497 adult flies representing 13 species in seven families was recorded. Total fly...

Checklist of the spiders (Araneae) of South Africa

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Checklist of the spiders (Araneae) of South Africa

Abstract

A checklist of 2265 spider species and subspecies, 495 genera and 71 families is provided. Data were extracted from the South African National Survey of Arachnida database and over 200 taxonomic revisions, ending December 2022. Global distributions, endemicity and conservation assessment using IUCN Criteria are provided for each species. A total of 1325 spp. are endemic to South Africa (58.5%), 126 spp. (5.6%) are of special concern and 693 spp. (30.6%) are Data Deficient (DD), while 15 species were described without exact locality data. Most species (1444 spp., 63.8%) are widely distributed with no known threats and are of Least Concern. A total of 1316 spp. (57.6%) are known from both sexes and 23 spp. (1.0%) were described from juveniles. Salticidae is the most species-rich family (354 spp.), followed by Gnaphosidae (195 spp.), Thomisidae (143 spp.) and Araneidae (100 spp.) and ten families are represented by a single species.

Dippenaar-Schoeman AS, Haddad CR, Lotz LN, Booysen R, Steenkamp RC, Foord SH (2023) Checklist of the spiders (Araneae) of South Africa. African Invertebrates 64(3): 221-289. https://doi.org/10.3897/AfrInvertebr.64.111047