Spider venom peptides Ht1a and Gg1a are toxic to honeybee parasite Varroa destructor by topical application

Posted by
  Spider venom peptides Ht1a and Gg1a are toxic to honeybee parasite Varroa destructor by topical application Abstract Global food supply strongly depends on honeybee pollination services, which are threatened by insecticides and pests such as parasitic Varroa destructor mites. Chemical varroacides/acaricides are hampered by resistance development, necessitating the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly alternatives, with arthropod venom peptides being considered promising sources of acaricidal toxins. With only a few acaricidal venom peptides being reported, we performed a systematic topical screening of 50 arthropod venoms against V. destructor , with 78% of the venoms causing 100% mortality after 24 h. Deconvolution of the venoms from the Tasmanian cave spider Hickmania troglodytes and the Giant Japanese funnel-web spider Gigathele gigas led to identification of the varroacidal peptides Ht1a and Gg1a. Topical application of Ht1a and Gg1a reduced varroa mite ...

A new species of Pseudopoda (Araneae, Sparassidae) from China, with first description of the female of P. spiralis Zhang, Jäger & Liu, 2023

Posted by

 


A new species of Pseudopoda (Araneae, Sparassidae) from China, with first description of the female of P. spiralis Zhang, Jäger & Liu, 2023

Abstract

One new species of Pseudopoda Jäger, 2000 is described from Guangxi, southern China: P. rongxianensis sp. nov. Additional materials of P. deformis Gong & Zhong, 2023 and P. spiralis Zhang, Jäger & Liu, 2023 are also presented, with the female of P. spiralis described for the first time. Figures and distribution data of these three species are provided.

Zhang H, Hu C-H, Wang L-Y, Liu J, Zhong Y (2025) A new species of Pseudopoda (Araneae, Sparassidae) from China, with first description of the female of P. spiralis Zhang, Jäger & Liu, 2023. ZooKeys 1260: 111-122. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1260.158762