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

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  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 occasionally broken tibial apophysis of male Oxyopes heterophthalmus (Latreille, 1804) (Araneae: Oxyopidae)

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The occasionally broken tibial apophysis of male Oxyopes heterophthalmus (Latreille, 1804) (Araneae: Oxyopidae)

Abstract and figures
The breakage of the distinctive laterally bent tibial apophysis found on the male palp of Oxyopes heterophthalmus (La-treille, 1804) has been discussed textually in prior works, but no illustrations of such palps have been published. We herein provide the first photographs of post-breakage palps, to aid future workers in recognising injured palps of this species, also discussing how such palps can be readily visually distinguished from teratological morphology. Rotura ocasional de la apófisis tibial del palpo en machos de Oxyopes heterophthalmus (Latreille, 1804) (Araneae: Oxyopidae).

Tchilinguirian, Julien & Sherwood, Danniella. (2025). The occasionally broken tibial apophysis of male Oxyopes heterophthalmus (Latreille, 1804) (Araneae: Oxyopidae). Revista Ibérica de Aracnología. 47. 155–157.