Taxonomic revision of the Central and West African eumenophorine tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae: Eumenophorinae)

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  Taxonomic revision of the Central and West African eumenophorine tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae: Eumenophorinae) Abstract A continent-wide revision of the African theraphosid genera Anoploscelus Pocock, 1897, Batesiella Pocock, 1903, Eumenophorus Pocock, 1897, Loxomphalia Simon, 1889, the newly revalidated Harpaxotheria Simon, 1889 gen. rest., Phoneyusa Karsch, 1884, and Hysterocrates Simon, 1892 is pre sented. The monotypic genus Loxophobema Simon, 1907 and its type species L. rutilata (Simon, 1907) are proposed as nomina dubia. Similarly, Myostola occidentalis (Lucas, 1858) and its monotypic genus Myostola Simon, 1903 are proposed as nomina dubia. Harpaxotheria gabonica (Simon, 1889) is proposed as a nomen dubium. Eumenophorus stridulantissimus (Strand, 1907), Hysterocrates affinis Strand, 1907, Hysterocrates affinis angusticeps Strand, 1907, Hysterocrates haasi Strand, 1906, Hysterocrates spellenbergi Strand, 1906, Hysterocrates vosseleri Strand, 1906, Harpaxotheria nigrov...

Differential fluorescence features and recovery speeds of different scorpion exoskeleton parts during the molting process

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Differential fluorescence features and recovery speeds of different scorpion exoskeleton parts during the molting process

Abstract

Scorpion fluorescence under ultraviolet light is a well-known phenomenon, but its features under excitation in the UVA, UVB and UVC bands have not been characterized. Systematic fluorescence characterization revealed indistinguishable fluorescence spectra with a peak wavelength of 475 nm for whole exuviae from second-, third- and fifth-instar scorpions under different ultraviolet light ranges. In-depth investigations of the chelae, mesosoma, metasoma and telson of adult scorpions further indicated heterogeneity in the typical fluorescence spectrum within the visible light range and in the newly reported fluorescence spectrum with a peak wavelength of 320 nm within the ultraviolet light range, which both showed excitation wavelength-independent features. Dynamic fluorescence changes during the molting process of third-instar scorpions revealed the fluorescence heterogeneity-dependent recovery speed of scorpion exoskeletons. The typical fluorescence spectra of the molted chelae and telson rapidly recovered approximately 6 h after ecdysis under UVA light and approximately 36 h after ecdysis under UVB and UVC light. However, it took approximately 12 h and 24 h to obtain the typical fluorescence spectra of the molted metasoma and mesosoma, respectively, under UVA irradiation and 72 h to obtain the typical fluorescence spectra under UVB and UVC irradiation. The fluorescence heterogeneity-dependent fluorescence recovery of the scorpion exoskeleton was further confirmed by tissue section analysis of different segments from molting third-instar scorpions. These findings reveal novel scorpion fluorescence features and provide potential clues on the biological function of scorpion fluorescence.


Liu, Y., Li, S., Li, Y., Wang, X., Zhang, H., Wu, W., Cao, Z., Huang, K., & Wu, Y. (2024). Differential fluorescence features and recovery speeds of different scorpion exoskeleton parts during the molting process. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 124309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2024.124309