Venomics of the six-eyed sand spider, Sicarius rugosus (Araneae: Sicariidae), from the neotropical dry forest of Costa Rica

  Venomics of the six-eyed sand spider, Sicarius rugosus (Araneae: Sicariidae), from the neotropical dry forest of Costa Rica Abstract Background Sicarius rugosus , the only member of the genus that inhabits Central America, is phylogenetically related to South American  Sicarius  spiders. These originated from a common ancestor with sister African species. Like  Loxosceles ,  Sicarius  exhibits venom phospholipase D activity due to a group of toxins known collectively as SicTox. Methods A gel-assisted, bottom-up, proteomic analysis was performed to characterize the venom composition of  S. rugosus . Hyaluronidase activity was determined using zymography. Results We identified several SicTox sequences, all classified as β-clade paralogs and sharing unique peptides with proteins from  S. patagonicus ,  S. peruensis,  and other species. Enzymes such as metalloproteinases, including putative astacins, carboxypeptidases, and angiotensin-conv...

A checklist of the spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Afghanistan

 


A checklist of the spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Afghanistan

Abstract

An annotated checklist of the spiders of Afghanistan, comprising 253 species in 134 genera and 32 families, is provided. The list includes 96 and 13 currently considered endemic and subendemic species, respectively. A separate list of rejected records is also presented.

Sajadi, S. S., Wesal, M. W., Zamani, A. & Moradmand, M. (2024). A checklist of the spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Afghanistan. Zootaxa 5551(1): 1-50. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5551.1.1