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...

Description of a new species of the orb-weaver spider genus Zangaraneus Mi, Wang & Feng, 2026 (Araneae, Araneidae) from China

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Description of a new species of the orb-weaver spider genus Zangaraneus Mi, Wang & Feng, 2026 (Araneae, Araneidae) from China

Abstract

Background

The orb-weaver spider genus Zangaraneus Mi, Wang & Feng, 2026 contains four species known only from Xizang, China. In our recent study, the fifth species has been found and is described herein.

New information

A new species of the genus Zangaraneus from central China is described: Zangaraneus zhishengi sp. nov. (♂♀). Diagnostic photos of habitus and copulatory organs are provided.


Wang Z, Wang C, Mi X (2026) Description of a new species of the orb-weaver spider genus Zangaraneus Mi, Wang & Feng, 2026 (Araneae, Araneidae) from China. Biodiversity Data Journal 14: e199306. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.14.e199306