Venom Mass Fingerprints for Species Delimitation, Reloaded: A Test Case with Italian Scorpions (Euscorpius)

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  Venom Mass Fingerprints for Species Delimitation, Reloaded: A Test Case with Italian Scorpions (Euscorpius) Abstract Scorpion venoms are complex mixtures of bioactive compounds including proteins, peptides and enzymes. Although venoms exhibit substantial intraspecific variation, some compounds appear to be species-specific, highlighting their potential as chemotaxonomic markers. Venom mass fingerprints (MFPs) derived from Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-of-Flight (MALDI-TOF) Mass Spectrometry (MS) have been proposed as a means of delimiting species. However, their utility for species delimitation has rarely been evaluated against independent sources of taxonomic evidence. In the present study, the performance of MALDI-TOF MS-based venom peptide barcoding (mass ranges of m/z 800‒4500 and m/z 3000‒10,000) was assessed in 52 populations of eight Italian species of the scorpion genus Euscorpius Thorell, 1876, representing different levels of evolutionary divergenc...

Notes on the genus Draconarius Ovtchinnikov, 1999 (Araneae: Agelenidae) with description of two new species from Laos

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Notes on the genus Draconarius Ovtchinnikov, 1999 (Araneae: Agelenidae) with description of two new species from Laos

Abstract

Two new species of the Draconarius venustus group are described from the Vang Vieng karst region of Laos: D. laosensis spec. nov. (♂♀) from various caves, and D. externus spec. nov. (♂) from the leaf litter. Detailed descriptions, illustrations and photographs of copulatory organs along with somatic features of the new species are provided. Additionally, the male palp of D. joshimath from India is illustrated in detail and the species is assigned to the D. venustus group. Distribution maps for all known records of the genus Draconarius s.l. are given along with an analysis of cave-dwelling species and its elevational distribution.

Hoang, Q. D., Nophaseud, L. & Jäger, P. (2025). Notes on the genus Draconarius Ovtchinnikov, 1999 (Araneae: Agelenidae) with description of two new species from Laos. Zootaxa 5590(4): 555-567. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5590.4.6