species are distributed in Africa and Asia. Seven species of this genus have been identified in Iran of which six species have been reported from Hormozgan province. Members of this genus are the ...most dangerous scorpions in Iran. corpions were collected by moving stones during the day and searching at night using portable UV lights from 2011 to 2022 from different areas in Hormozgan province. Three species were identified from Hormozgan province including
,
and
which are endemic to Iran. These species have limited distribution and were reported only from the south of Iran. The number of trichobothria are 3, 10-12 and 15-17 in
,
and
, respectively. The measured values showed that
is larger than
and
. Specimens of
are brown to dark brown samples with dark metasomal segment V. There have been reports of death from biting this species. Members of
are light brown to yellow samples. Members of
are large brown samples. All three species have sexual dimorphism. Although these three species can be distinguished based on their morphological characters, the molecular investigation is needed to confirm the validity of all species of this genus. Identifying species and determining their distribution range is very useful in facilitating education and treatment management.
Aposematic organisms couple conspicuous warning signals with a secondary defense to deter predators from attacking. Novel signals of aposematic prey are expected to be selected against due to ...positive frequency-dependent selection. How, then, can novel phenotypes persist after they arise, and why do so many aposematic species exhibit intrapopulation signal variability? Using a polytypic poison frog (Dendrobates tinctorius), we explored the forces of selection on variable aposematic signals using 2 phenotypically distinct (white, yellow) populations. Contrary to expectations, local phenotype was not always better protected compared to novel phenotypes in either population; in the white population, the novel phenotype evoked greater avoidance in natural predators. Despite having a lower quantity of alkaloids, the skin extracts from yellow frogs provoked higher aversive reactions by birds than white frogs in the laboratory, although both populations differed from controls. Similarly, predators learned to avoid the yellow signal faster than the white signal, and generalized their learned avoidance of yellow but not white. We propose that signals that are easily learned and broadly generalized can protect rare, novel signals, and weak warning signals (i.e., signals with poor efficacy and/or poor defense) can persist when gene flow among populations, as in this case, is limited. This provides a mechanism for the persistence of intrapopulation aposematic variation, a likely precursor to polytypism and driver of speciation.
While divergent ecological adaptation can drive speciation, understanding the factors that facilitate or constrain this process remains a major goal in speciation research. Here, we study two mimetic ...transition zones in the poison frog Ranitomeya imitator, a species that has undergone a Müllerian mimetic radiation to establish four morphs in Peru. We find that mimetic morphs are strongly phenotypically differentiated, producing geographic clines with varying widths. However, distinct morphs show little neutral genetic divergence, and landscape genetic analyses implicate isolation by distance as the primary determinant of among-population genetic differentiation. Mate choice experiments suggest random mating at the transition zones, although certain allopatric populations show a preference for their own morph. We present evidence that this preference may be mediated by color pattern specifically. These results contrast with an earlier study of a third transition zone, in which a mimetic shift was associated with reproductive isolation. Overall, our results suggest that the three known mimetic transition zones in R. imitator reflect a speciation continuum, which we have characterized at the geographic, phenotypic, behavioral, and genetic levels. We discuss possible explanations for variable progress toward speciation, suggesting that multifarious selection on both mimetic color pattern and body size may be responsible for generating reproductive isolation.
Scorpion venoms are a rich source of bioactive peptides, most of which are neurotoxic, with 30 to 70 amino acid residues in their sequences. There are a scarcity of reports in the literature ...concerning the short linear peptides found in scorpion venoms. This type of peptide toxin may be selectively extracted from the venom using 50% (v/v) acetonitrile. The use of LC-MS and MS/MS enabled the detection of 12 bioactive short linear peptides, of which six were identified as cryptides. These peptides were shown to be multifunctional, causing hemolysis, mast cell degranulation and lysis, edema, pain, and anxiety, increasing the complexity of the envenomation mechanism. Apparently, the natural functions of these peptide toxins are to induce inflammation and discomfort in the victims of scorpion stings.
The expression of Cry proteins in genetically modified rice varieties safeguards the crop from lepidopteran pests. These proteins have the potential to be transferred through the food chain to ...arthropods like planthoppers and predatory spiders, triggering defensive responses in these unintended organisms. Hence, we hypothesized that Cry protein might influence the growth and development of spiders by altering protective enzyme activities. The results showed that Cry1Ab protein could accumulate in tissues and subcellular organelles of Pardosa pseudoannulata from Nilaparvata lugens. Cry1Ab protein exposure prolonged the developmental duration in the 5th and 7th instar spiderlings but induced no alterations of other growth indicators, such as body length, median ocular area, and survival rate. In addition, Cry1Ab protein exerted no adverse impacts on several detoxifying enzymes (i.e., superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and acetylcholine esterase) in muscle, midgut, ganglia, and hemolymph at subcellular components (i.e., microsome and cytoplasm). To further explore the effects of Cry1Ab protein on the spiderlings, we performed an integrated transcriptome analysis on spiderlings exposed to Cry1Ab protein. The results showed that Cry1Ab protein might prolong the development duration of P. pseudoannulata via the altered cuticle metabolism (e.g., chitin metabolic process and structural constituent of cuticle). In addition, the gene expression profile associated with detoxifying enzymes and three stress-responsive pathways (JAK/STAT, JNK/SAPK, and Hippo pathways) also displayed no significant alterations under Cry1Ab exposure. Collectively, this integrated analysis generates multidimensional insights to assess the effects of Cry1Ab protein on non-target spiders and demonstrates that Cry1Ab protein exerts no toxicity in P. pseudoannulata.
An updated and annotated checklist of the spiders of Iraq, currently comprising 104 species in 75 genera and 29 families is presented, including six endemic and four subendemic species. Twenty-three ...records are considered misidentifications and therefore omitted from the checklist. Where possible, the misidentified records are attributed to other species based on their distribution and morphology; as a result of this, three species are recorded in Iraq for the first time: Dictis striatipes L. Koch, 1872 (Scytodidae), Hippasa deserticola Simon, 1889 (Lycosidae) and Latrodectus cinctus Blackwall, 1865 (Theridiidae). The history of studies and the geographical distribution of records are reviewed and discussed. The list is dominated by members of the families Gnaphosidae, Lycosidae, and Salticidae, comprising 15.4%, 13.5% and 10.6% of the total number of species, respectively.
Scorpio, a commonly used animal medicine in China, is derived from Buthus martensii as recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. China harbors rich species of Scorpionida and adulterants exist in the ...raw medicinal material and deep-processed products of Scorpio. The microscopic characteristics of the deep-processed products may be incomplete or lost during processing, which makes the identification difficult. In this study, the maximum likelihood(ML) tree was constructed based on the morphology and cytochrome C oxidase subunit I(COⅠ) to identify the species of Scorpio products. The results showed that the main adulterant of Scorpio was Lychas mucronatus. According to the specific SNP sites in the COⅠ sequence of B. martensii, the stable primers were designed for the identification of the medicinal material and formula granules of Scorpio. The polymerase chain reaction(PCR) at the annealing temperature of 61 ℃ and 30 cycles produced bright specific bands at about 150 bp for both B. martensii and its formula parti
Scorpion venom is a cocktail of molecules whose composition is remarkably plastic, controlled by several factors. The Moroccan scorpion fauna is characterized by its richness and high rate of ...endemism and the venom molecular variability of many species is not yet well characterized. The aim of the present study was to highlight the molecular variability of the venom composition of Androctonus amoreuxi and Buthacus stockmanni (endemic species), both belonging to the Buthidae family, collected from two Moroccan regions, Zagora and Tan-tan. Characterization of the molecular mass fingerprints (MFPs) of each specimen was performed by Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) using a sandwich (Sand) and a dried-droplet (DD) sample preparation and dilutions. Considering these two methods, a total of 828 ion signals were detected, and Sand method produced more adducts (56%) than DD (44%). We observed interspecific variations in the venom composition between these two species showing they share 235 ion signals, while 226 and 367 are specific for these two species, respectively. Moreover, B. stockmanni specimens showed a clear difference in their MFPs between the two geographical areas studied, suggesting intraspecific variations. Moreover, specimens from each population also show an intraspecific variability. In addition, for the same individual, a variation in the venom composition was also recorded depending on the milking frequency. Our results confirmed the presence of characteristic components in each extracted venom sample. In conclusion, MFPs assessed by MALDI-MS represent a fast, non-supervised, sensitive, reliable and cost-efficient approach for taxonomic identification and molecular variability characterization. This study undoubtedly represents a step forward for understanding the scorpion venom plasticity, intra/inter variations, and their temporal and geographical variability.
The invasive brown widow spider, Latrodectus geometricus (Araneae: Theridiidae), has spread in multiple locations around the world and, along with it, brought associated organisms such as ...endosymbionts. We investigated endosymbiont diversity and prevalence across putative native and invasive populations of this spider, predicting lower endosymbiont diversity across the invasive range compared to the native range. First, we characterized the microbial community in the putative native (South Africa) and invasive (Israel and the United States) ranges via high throughput 16S sequencing of 103 adult females. All specimens were dominated by reads from only 1-3 amplicon sequence variants (ASV), and most individuals were infected with an apparently uniform strain of Rhabdochlamydia. We also found Rhabdochlamydia in spider eggs, indicating that it is a maternally-inherited endosymbiont. Relatively few other ASV were detected, but included two variant Rhabdochlamydia strains and several Wolbachia, Spiroplasma and Enterobacteriaceae strains. We then diagnostically screened 118 adult female spiders from native and invasive populations specifically for Rhabdochlamydia and Wolbachia. We found Rhabdochlamydia in 86% of individuals and represented in all populations, which suggests that it is a consistent and potentially important associate of L. geometricus. Wolbachia was found at lower overall prevalence (14%) and was represented in all countries, but not all populations. In addition, we found evidence for geographic variation in endosymbiont prevalence: spiders from Israel were more likely to carry Rhabdochlamydia than those from the US and South Africa, and Wolbachia was geographically clustered in both Israel and South Africa. Characterizing endosymbiont prevalence and diversity is a first step in understanding their function inside the host and may shed light on the process of spread and population variability in cosmopolitan invasive species.
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