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...

Four new species of Neischnocolus (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae) from Western Ecuador

 


Four new species of Neischnocolus (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae) from Western Ecuador

Abstract

Four new species of the small mygalomorph genus Neischnocolus (Theraphosidae) are described from Western Ecuador: N. ballerioi sp. nov. (male); N. pampenita sp. nov. (male, female); N. ruffoi sp. nov. (male, female) and, N. canosita sp. nov. (male). Additionally, the female of Neischnocolus cisnerosi Peñaherrera et al. 2023 is described for the first time.

Dupérré, N. & Tapia, E. (2025) Four new species of Neischnocolus (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae) from Western Ecuador. Zootaxa, 5706 (4), 530–550. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5706.4.4