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...

New data on the spider (Arachnida: Aranei) fauna of Mangystau Oblast, Kazakhstan

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New data on the spider (Arachnida: Aranei) fauna of Mangystau Oblast, Kazakhstan

ABSTRACT

A list of 84 spider species of Mangystau Oblast is provided, with the family Dysderidae and 39 species being recorded from there for the first time; five species are first found in Kazakhstan: viz., Argiope ahngeri Spassky, 1932, Uroctea grossa Roewer, 1960, Oxyopes badhyzicus Mikhailov et Fet, 1986, Evarcha nenilini Rakov, 1997, and Theridion arsia Zamani et Marusik, 2021. Distribution of all species that are new to Kazakhstan and Mangystau Oblast is discussed. Three species are described as new: viz., Eresus mangyshlakensis sp.n. (♂), Lycosa kuryk sp.n. (♀), Xysticus utochkini sp.n. (♂). A new synonymy has been established: Minosia simeonica Levy, 1995, syn.n. = Minosia karakumensis (Spassky, 1939). Based on the results of the present study and earlier published data, the total number of spider species recorded from Mangystau Oblast has increased to 195 species in 26 families.

Esyunin, S. L., Efimik, V. E., Nekhaeva, A. A., Kim, L. V., Valuev, V. A., Kabdrakhimov, A. A., Tuneva, T. K. & Akhmedenov, K. M. (2025). New data on the spider (Arachnida: Aranei) fauna of Mangystau Oblast, Kazakhstan. Arthropoda Selecta 34(3): 426-446.