An unusually complex venom system in araneophagous palp-footed spiders (Palpimanidae)

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  An unusually complex venom system in araneophagous palp-footed spiders (Palpimanidae) Venoms are key adaptive traits in many animal lineages, yet their structural and functional diversity in spiders remains poorly investigated. Here, we present an initial characterization of the venom system of palp-footed spiders (Palpimanidae), a family specialized in hunting other spiders. Using micro-computed tomography, we found that the venom glands of the single species examined, Palpimanus gibbulus , exhibit a complex, multi-lobed morphology that is unusual among araneomorph spiders. Proteo-transcriptomic analyses of two Palpimanus venoms ( P. gibbulus and P. cyprius ) revealed highly diverse putative toxin repertoires comprising hundreds of peptides and proteins, including numerous novel putative neurotoxins, cytotoxins, enzymes, and allergens. Five major families of cysteine-rich palpitoxins were identified as the dominant putative neurotoxic components in both species, displaying con...

Korean dragon pseudoscorpions revisited: a taxonomic review of Allochthonius (Pseudoscorpiones: Pseudotyrannochthoniidae) Chamberlin, 1929 with three new species

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Korean dragon pseudoscorpions revisited: a taxonomic review of Allochthonius (Pseudoscorpiones: Pseudotyrannochthoniidae) Chamberlin, 1929 with three new species

Allochthonius (Pseudoscorpiones: Pseudotyrannochthoniidae) is a genus widely distributed throughout East Asia. In Korea, only three species in this genus have been recorded to date: Allochthonius buanensis Lee, 1982; Allochthonius coreanus Morikawa, 1970; and Allochthonius opticus Ellingsen, 1907. Here, we review the Korean fauna of Allochthonius and describe three new species for the country: Allochthonius jungsuni sp. nov., Allochthonius maximus sp. nov., and Allochthonius rufimanus sp. nov. We also exclude Allochthonius opticus –a species originally described from Japan—from the country record and redescribe two Korean recorded species, Allochthonius buanensis and Allochthonius coreanus. Following up on our previous taxonomic work that elevated several subspecies of Japanese pseudotyrannochthoniids originally described by Kuniyasu Morikawa to species level, we elevate eight former subspecies to full species rank: A. ishikawai deciclavatus Morikawa, 1956 = A. deciclavatus Morikawa, 1956, stat. nov., A. ishikawai ishikawai Morikawa, 1954 = A. ishikawai Morikawa, 1954, A. ishikawai kyushuensis Morikawa, 1960 = A. kyushuensis Morikawa, 1960, stat. nov., A. ishikawai shiragatakiensis Morikawa, 1954 = A. shiragatakiensis Morikawa, 1954, stat. nov., A. ishikawai uenoi Morikawa, 1956 = A. uenoi Morikawa, 1956, stat. nov., and A. ishikawai uyamadensis Morikawa, 1954 = A. uyamadensis Morikawa, 1954, stat. nov.; A. opticus opticus Ellingsen, 1907 = A. opticus Ellingsen, 1907, and A. opticus troglophilus Morikawa, 1956 = A. troglophilus Morikawa, 1956, stat. nov.. This elevates the total number of Allochthonius species from 40 to 43, of which five species are presently known from the Korean Peninsula.

Jeong K, Harms D, Kim S. 2026. Korean dragon pseudoscorpions revisited: a taxonomic review of Allochthonius (Pseudoscorpiones: Pseudotyrannochthoniidae) Chamberlin, 1929 with three new species. PeerJ 14:e21332