A new species of the mygalomorph spider genus Euagrus Ausserer (Araneae: Euagridae) from central Mexico and new records of E. gus Coyle from Tlaxcala

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  A new species of the mygalomorph spider genus Euagrus Ausserer (Araneae: Euagridae) from central Mexico and new records of E. gus Coyle from Tlaxcala Abstract  A new species of the spider genus Euagrus Ausserer, 1875 from temperate pine-oak forests in the states of Tlaxcala and Hidalgo, Mexico is described: E. pulque sp. nov. The description of the new species is based on male and female adult specimens. Additionally, Euagrus gus Coyle, 1988 is recorded for the very first time in the state of Tlaxcala. These species have sympatric distributions in La Malinche National Park, Tlaxcala. With this description, the diversity of the genus increases to 23 species, with Mexico harboring the highest diversity with 17 described species.  Valdez-Mondragón, A., Salinas-Velasco, H. V. & Bueno-Villegas, J. (2026). A new species of the mygalomorph spider genus Euagrus Ausserer (Araneae: Euagridae) from central Mexico and new records of E. gus Coyle from Tlaxcala. Zootaxa 5810 (...

Microbiota discovered in scorpion venom

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Microbiota discovered in scorpion venom

Abstract

With low nutrient availability and presence of numerous antimicrobial peptides, animal venoms have been traditionally considered to be harsh sterile environments that lack bacteria. Contrary to this assumption, recent studies of animal venom and venom-producing tissues have revealed the presence of diverse microbial communities, warranting further studies of potential microbiota in other venomous animals. In this study we used 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing to elucidate whether scorpion venom contained bacteria, to characterize the bacterial communities, and determine if venom microbiomes differed across geologically complex geographic locations. Our study compares the venom microbiome of two scorpion species, sampled from sites in the Mojave and Great Basin deserts, Paruoctonus becki (family of Vaejovidae) and Anuroctonus phaiodactylus (family of Anuroctonidae), and represents the first assessment of microbial diversity ever conducted using the venom secretion itself, rather than the venom-producing organ and its surrounding tissues.

Murdoch B, Kleinschmit AJ, Santibáñez-López CE, Graham MR (2026) Microbiota discovered in scorpion venom. PLoS One 21(1): e0328427. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0328427