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 new species of Linothele Karsch 1879 from Panama (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Dipluridae)

 


A new species of Linothele Karsch 1879 from Panama (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Dipluridae)

Abstract 


A new species of Dipluridae Simon 1889, Linothele darien n. sp., is described from Panama. This is the first Linothele Karsch 1879 species described for the continental part of Central America and the second outside South America. Linothele darien n. sp. is compared to L. megatheloides Paz & Raven 1990 and L. sericata (Karsch 1879), two similar species from Colombia. Also, a discussion about the specimens from Panama studied and identified as L. megatheloides by N. Paz is included.

Wermelinger-Moreira, G., Castanheira, P. de S. & Baptista, R. L. C. (2024b). A new species of Linothele Karsch 1879 from Panama (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Dipluridae). Acta Arachnologica 73(2): 95-101. doi:10.2476/asjaa.73.95 18173