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

  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...

The Journal of Arachnology VOL. 53 · NO. 2 | September 2025

 


The Journal of Arachnology VOL. 53 · NO. 2 | September 2025

The Journal of Arachnology


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Spider predation on Platynota stultana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in California vineyards

Michael J. Costello, Douglas J. Schmidt & Kent M. Daane
The Journal of Arachnology Sep 2025 Vol. 53, No. 2: 85-91
https://www.bioone.org/journals/the-journal-of-arachnology/volume-53/issue-2/JoA-S-23-019/Spider-predation-on-Platynota-stultana-Lepidoptera--Tortricidae-in-California/10.1636/JoA-S-23-019.full


Paratricommatus infernalis (Opiliones: Cryptogeobiidae): a new troglobitic harvestman from southeastern Brazil

Lais Furtado Oliveira & Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira
The Journal of Arachnology Sep 2025 Vol. 53, No. 2: 92-99
https://www.bioone.org/journals/the-journal-of-arachnology/volume-53/issue-2/JoA-S-22-055/Paratricommatus-infernalis-Opiliones--Cryptogeobiidae--a-new-troglobitic-harvestman/10.1636/JoA-S-22-055.full


Reproductive behavior of the ogre-faced spider, Deinopis cf. cylindracea (Araneae: Deinopidae), in its natural habitat

German Antonio Villanueva-Bonilla, Vanessa Stefani, Rafael Pereira da Ponte & João Vasconcellos-Neto
The Journal of Arachnology Sep 2025 Vol. 53, No. 2: 100-104
https://www.bioone.org/journals/the-journal-of-arachnology/volume-53/issue-2/JoA-S-24-009/Reproductive-behavior-of-the-ogre-faced-spider-Deinopis-cf-cylindracea/10.1636/JoA-S-24-009.full


Patterns of intra- and interspecific diversity in araneomorph spiders of southern high Appalachian leaf litter

Michael S. Caterino, Marc A. Milne & Ernesto Recuero
The Journal of Arachnology Sep 2025 Vol. 53, No. 2: 105-117
https://www.bioone.org/journals/the-journal-of-arachnology/volume-53/issue-2/JoA-S-24-007/Patterns-of-intra--and-interspecific-diversity-in-araneomorph-spiders/10.1636/JoA-S-24-007.full

Efficiency of five RNA extraction protocols for Grammostola actaeon (Pocock, 1903) small spinneret tissue samples

Nancy Lo-Man-Hung, Sónia Cristina da Silva Andrade, Prashant Sharma, Tatiana Teixeira Torres & Federico D. Brown
The Journal of Arachnology Sep 2025 Vol. 53, No. 2: 118-124
https://www.bioone.org/journals/the-journal-of-arachnology/volume-53/issue-2/JoA-S-24-023/Efficiency-of-five-RNA-extraction-protocols-for-Grammostola-actaeon-Pocock/10.1636/JoA-S-24-023.full


Methods to Identify Silk Gland Activation Patterns in Spider Spinning Behaviors

Maitry Jani, Martín Ramírez & Jonas O. Wolff
The Journal of Arachnology Sep 2025 Vol. 53, No. 2: 125-133
https://www.bioone.org/journals/the-journal-of-arachnology/volume-53/issue-2/JoA-S-24-016/Methods-to-Identify-Silk-Gland-Activation-Patterns-in-Spider-Spinning/10.1636/JoA-S-24-016.full


Proteomics suggest pyriform silk attaches orb web capture spiral junctions

Cooper Lazo, Maria Luzaran, Jamal Magoti, Kyle Friend, Brent D. Opell & Nadia A. Ayoub
The Journal of Arachnology Sep 2025 Vol. 53, No. 2: 134-138
https://www.bioone.org/journals/the-journal-of-arachnology/volume-53/issue-2/JoA-S-23-020/Proteomics-suggest-pyriform-silk-attaches-orb-web-capture-spiral-junctions/10.1636/JoA-S-23-020.full


Wandering in wet meadows – A mark-recapture study on Pardosa paludicola (Araneae: Lycosidae)

Urszula Suprunowicz, Aleksandra Rozumko, Mariusz Wojtalewski, Karolina Mierzyńska & Agata Kostro-Ambroziak
The Journal of Arachnology Sep 2025 Vol. 53, No. 2: 139-142
https://www.bioone.org/journals/the-journal-of-arachnology/volume-53/issue-2/JoA-S-24-001/Wandering-in-wet-meadows--A-mark-recapture-study-on/10.1636/JoA-S-24-001.full


Jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) attacking and eating vertebrates: an update

Martin Nyffeler, Alireza Zamani, Bruce Cutler & Kenneth L. Krysko
The Journal of Arachnology Sep 2025 Vol. 53, No. 2: 143-149
https://www.bioone.org/journals/the-journal-of-arachnology/volume-53/issue-2/JoA-S-23-034/Jumping-spiders-Araneae--Salticidae-attacking-and-eating-vertebrates/10.1636/JoA-S-23-034.full


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