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Arie van der Meijden
University of Porto, Portugal

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Journal article
Published: 01 April 2021 in Journal of Experimental Biology
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Venom spitting is a defence mechanism based on airborne venom delivery used by a number of different African and Asian elapid snake species (‘spitting cobras’; Naja spp. and Hemachatus spp.). Adaptations underpinning venom spitting have been studied extensively at both behavioural and morphological level in cobras, but the role of the physical properties of venom itself in its effective projection remains largely unstudied. We hereby provide the first comparative study of the physical properties of venom in spitting and non-spitting cobras. We measured the viscosity, protein concentration and pH of the venom of 13 cobra species of the genus Naja from Africa and Asia, alongside the spitting elapid Hemachatus haemachatus and the non-spitting viper Bitis arietans. By using published microCT scans, we calculated the pressure required to eject venom through the fangs of a spitting and a non-spitting cobra. Despite the differences in the modes of venom delivery, we found no significant differences between spitters and non-spitters in the rheological and physical properties of the studied venoms. Furthermore, all analysed venoms showed a Newtonian flow behaviour, in contrast to previous reports. Although our results imply that the evolution of venom spitting did not significantly affect venom viscosity, our models of fang pressure suggests that the pressure requirements to eject venom are lower in spitting cobras than in non-spitting cobras.

ACS Style

Ignazio Avella; Edgar Barajas-Ledesma; Nicholas R. Casewell; Robert A. Harrison; Paul D. Rowley; Edouard Crittenden; Wolfgang Wüster; Riccardo Castiglia; Chris Holland; Arie van der Meijden. Unexpected lack of specialisation in the flow properties of spitting cobra venom. Journal of Experimental Biology 2021, 224, 1 .

AMA Style

Ignazio Avella, Edgar Barajas-Ledesma, Nicholas R. Casewell, Robert A. Harrison, Paul D. Rowley, Edouard Crittenden, Wolfgang Wüster, Riccardo Castiglia, Chris Holland, Arie van der Meijden. Unexpected lack of specialisation in the flow properties of spitting cobra venom. Journal of Experimental Biology. 2021; 224 (7):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ignazio Avella; Edgar Barajas-Ledesma; Nicholas R. Casewell; Robert A. Harrison; Paul D. Rowley; Edouard Crittenden; Wolfgang Wüster; Riccardo Castiglia; Chris Holland; Arie van der Meijden. 2021. "Unexpected lack of specialisation in the flow properties of spitting cobra venom." Journal of Experimental Biology 224, no. 7: 1.

Original paper
Published: 09 March 2021 in Journal of Comparative Physiology A
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In terrestrial legged locomotion, the distribution of mass can influence the gait characteristics. This can be due to a change in the magnitude or distribution of the load. The latter occurs in scorpions when they lift their large metasoma from a trailing position in ambulatory posture to the well-known arched forward position in the defensive posture. We measured how locomotion changes between these two postures by recording scorpions walking using high-speed video. We found that the metasoma in the fat-tailed scorpion (Androctonus australis) represents about a quarter of the total mass. Moving this mass anteriorly over the body changes the position of the center of mass forward 8.15 ± 1.86 mm. We found this increases the overall duty factor, and particularly that of the second leg pair, even when taking the reduced speed in defensive posture into account. In the five scorpions we recorded, also the ipsilateral phase of leg pairs 3 and 4 differed in defensive posture. We found that the trajectory the 4th foot describes during a single stride also differed significantly between postures, showing this to be a sensitive measure of changes in gait. The change from an ambulatory to a defensive posture places different demands on the gait of scorpions, possibly largely due to the forward displacement of the center of mass.

ACS Style

Ana Telheiro; Pedro Coelho; Arie van der Meijden. The effect of change in mass distribution due to defensive posture on gait in fat‐tailed scorpions. Journal of Comparative Physiology A 2021, 207, 117 -125.

AMA Style

Ana Telheiro, Pedro Coelho, Arie van der Meijden. The effect of change in mass distribution due to defensive posture on gait in fat‐tailed scorpions. Journal of Comparative Physiology A. 2021; 207 (2):117-125.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ana Telheiro; Pedro Coelho; Arie van der Meijden. 2021. "The effect of change in mass distribution due to defensive posture on gait in fat‐tailed scorpions." Journal of Comparative Physiology A 207, no. 2: 117-125.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2021 in Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases
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Scorpions are widely known for the neurotoxic effects of their venoms, which contain peptides affecting ionic channels. Although Colombia is recognized for its scorpion diversity, only a few studies are available describing the venom content. In this descriptive study, we analyzed the MS/MS sequence, electrophoretic and chromatographic profile linked to a bioinformatics analysis of the scorpions Chactas reticulatus (Chactidae), Opisthacanthus elatus (Hormuridae), Centruroides edwardsii (Buthidae) and Tityus asthenes (Buthidae) from Colombia. Each scorpion showed a specific electrophoretic and chromatographic profile. The electrophoretic profiles indicate the presence of high molecular mass compounds in all venoms, with a predominance of low molecular mass compounds in the Buthidae species. Chromatographic profiles showed a similar pattern as the electrophoretic profiles. From the MS/MS analysis of the chromatographic collected fractions, we obtained internal peptide sequences corresponding to proteins reported in scorpions from the respective family of the analyzed samples. Some of these proteins correspond to neurotoxins affecting ionic channels, antimicrobial peptides and metalloproteinase-like fragments. In the venom of Tityus asthenes, the MSn analysis allowed the detection of two toxins affecting sodium channels covering 50% and 84% of the sequence respectively, showing 100% sequence similarity. Two sequences from Tityus asthenes showed sequence similarity with a phospholipase from Opisthacanthus cayaporum indicating the presence of this type of toxin in this species for the first time. One sequence matching a hypothetical secreted protein from Hottentotta judaicus was found in three of the studied venoms. We found that this protein is common in the Buthidae family whereas it has been reported in other families - such as Scorpionidae - and may be part of the evolutionary puzzle of venoms in these arachnids. Buthidae venoms from Colombia can be considered an important source of peptides similar to toxins affecting ionic channels. An interesting predicted antimicrobial peptide was detected in three of the analyzed venoms.

ACS Style

Sebastian Estrada-Gómez; Leidy Johana Vargas-Muñoz; Monica Maria Saldarriaga-Córdoba; Arie van der Meijden. MS/MS analysis of four scorpion venoms from Colombia: a descriptive approach. Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases 2021, 27, 1 .

AMA Style

Sebastian Estrada-Gómez, Leidy Johana Vargas-Muñoz, Monica Maria Saldarriaga-Córdoba, Arie van der Meijden. MS/MS analysis of four scorpion venoms from Colombia: a descriptive approach. Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases. 2021; 27 ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sebastian Estrada-Gómez; Leidy Johana Vargas-Muñoz; Monica Maria Saldarriaga-Córdoba; Arie van der Meijden. 2021. "MS/MS analysis of four scorpion venoms from Colombia: a descriptive approach." Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases 27, no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 18 November 2019 in Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
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Morphological differences between the sexes are a common feature in many groups of animals and can have important ecological implications for courtship, mating, access to prey and, in some cases, intersex niche partitioning. In this study, we evaluated the role of sexual dimorphism in the performance of the two structures that mediate the ability to access prey, the pinchers or chelae and the venomous stinger, in two species of scorpions with contrasting morphologies: Chactas sp., which has marked sexual dimorphism in the chelae, and Centruroides sp., which does not have such marked dimorphism in the chelae. We evaluated aspects such as chela pinch force, toxicity to prey (LD50) and the volume of venom in males and females of each species. We found significant differences between males and females of Chactas sp. in the chela pinch force, volume of venom and LD50. In contrast, for Centruroides sp., no differences between males and females were found in any of these traits. We discuss several potential selective regimes that could account for the pattern observed.

ACS Style

Julio César González-Gómez; Juan Carlos Valenzuela-Rojas; Luis Fernando García; Lida Marcela Franco Pérez; Giovany Guevara; Sandra Buitrago; Allison Cubillos; Arie Van Der Meijden. Sexual dimorphism in the biomechanical and toxicological performance in prey incapacitation of two morphologically distinct scorpion species (Chactas sp. and Centruroides sp.). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 2019, 1 .

AMA Style

Julio César González-Gómez, Juan Carlos Valenzuela-Rojas, Luis Fernando García, Lida Marcela Franco Pérez, Giovany Guevara, Sandra Buitrago, Allison Cubillos, Arie Van Der Meijden. Sexual dimorphism in the biomechanical and toxicological performance in prey incapacitation of two morphologically distinct scorpion species (Chactas sp. and Centruroides sp.). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 2019; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Julio César González-Gómez; Juan Carlos Valenzuela-Rojas; Luis Fernando García; Lida Marcela Franco Pérez; Giovany Guevara; Sandra Buitrago; Allison Cubillos; Arie Van Der Meijden. 2019. "Sexual dimorphism in the biomechanical and toxicological performance in prey incapacitation of two morphologically distinct scorpion species (Chactas sp. and Centruroides sp.)." Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 27 October 2019 in Toxins
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Spiders rely on venom to catch prey and few species are even capable of capturing vertebrates. The majority of spiders are generalist predators, possessing complex venom, in which different toxins seem to target different types of prey. In this study, we focused on the trophic ecology and venom toxicity of Phoneutria boliviensis F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897, a Central American spider of medical importance. We tested the hypothesis that its venom is adapted to catch vertebrate prey by studying its trophic ecology and venom toxicity against selected vertebrate and invertebrate prey. We compared both trophic ecology (based on acceptance experiments) and toxicity (based on bioassays) among sexes of this species. We found that P. boliviensis accepted geckos, spiders, and cockroaches as prey, but rejected frogs. There was no difference in acceptance between males and females. The venom of P. boliviensis was far more efficient against vertebrate (geckos) than invertebrate (spiders) prey in both immobilization time and LD50. Surprisingly, venom of males was more efficient than that of females. Our results suggest that P. boliviensis has adapted its venom to catch vertebrates, which may explain its toxicity to humans.

ACS Style

Juan Carlos Valenzuela-Rojas; Julio César González-Gómez; Arie Van Der Meijden; Juan Nicolás Cortés; Giovany Guevara; Lida Marcela Franco; Stano Pekár; Luis Fernando García. Prey and Venom Efficacy of Male and Female Wandering Spider, Phoneutria boliviensis (Araneae: Ctenidae). Toxins 2019, 11, 622 .

AMA Style

Juan Carlos Valenzuela-Rojas, Julio César González-Gómez, Arie Van Der Meijden, Juan Nicolás Cortés, Giovany Guevara, Lida Marcela Franco, Stano Pekár, Luis Fernando García. Prey and Venom Efficacy of Male and Female Wandering Spider, Phoneutria boliviensis (Araneae: Ctenidae). Toxins. 2019; 11 (11):622.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Juan Carlos Valenzuela-Rojas; Julio César González-Gómez; Arie Van Der Meijden; Juan Nicolás Cortés; Giovany Guevara; Lida Marcela Franco; Stano Pekár; Luis Fernando García. 2019. "Prey and Venom Efficacy of Male and Female Wandering Spider, Phoneutria boliviensis (Araneae: Ctenidae)." Toxins 11, no. 11: 622.

Original article
Published: 23 August 2019 in Evolution
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Physical structures built by animals challenge our understanding of biological processes and inspire the development of smart materials and green architecture. It is thus indispensable to understand the drivers, constraints, and dynamics that lead to the emergence and modification of building behavior. Here, we demonstrate that spider web diversification repeatedly followed strikingly similar evolutionary trajectories, guided by physical constraints. We found that the evolution of suspended webs that intercept flying prey coincided with small changes in silk anchoring behavior with considerable effects on the robustness of web attachment. The use of nanofiber based capture threads (cribellate silk) conflicts with the behavioral enhancement of web attachment, and the repeated loss of this trait was frequently followed by physical improvements of web anchor structure. These findings suggest that the evolution of building behavior may be constrained by major physical traits limiting its role in rapid adaptation to a changing environment.

ACS Style

Jonas O. Wolff; Gustavo B. Paterno; Daniele Liprandi; Martín J. Ramírez; Federico Bosia; Arie Van Der Meijden; Peter Michalik; Helen M. Smith; Braxton R. Jones; Alexandra M. Ravelo; Nicola Pugno; Marie E. Herberstein. Evolution of aerial spider webs coincided with repeated structural optimization of silk anchorages. Evolution 2019, 73, 2122 -2134.

AMA Style

Jonas O. Wolff, Gustavo B. Paterno, Daniele Liprandi, Martín J. Ramírez, Federico Bosia, Arie Van Der Meijden, Peter Michalik, Helen M. Smith, Braxton R. Jones, Alexandra M. Ravelo, Nicola Pugno, Marie E. Herberstein. Evolution of aerial spider webs coincided with repeated structural optimization of silk anchorages. Evolution. 2019; 73 (10):2122-2134.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jonas O. Wolff; Gustavo B. Paterno; Daniele Liprandi; Martín J. Ramírez; Federico Bosia; Arie Van Der Meijden; Peter Michalik; Helen M. Smith; Braxton R. Jones; Alexandra M. Ravelo; Nicola Pugno; Marie E. Herberstein. 2019. "Evolution of aerial spider webs coincided with repeated structural optimization of silk anchorages." Evolution 73, no. 10: 2122-2134.

Journal article
Published: 13 August 2019 in BMC Genomics
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Venom has evolved in parallel in multiple animals for the purpose of self-defense, prey capture or both. These venoms typically consist of highly complex mixtures of toxins: diverse bioactive peptides and/or proteins each with a specific pharmacological activity. Because of their specificity, they can be used as experimental tools to study cell mechanisms and develop novel medicines and drugs. It is therefore potentially valuable to explore the venoms of various animals to characterize their toxins and identify novel toxin-families. This study focuses on the annotation and exploration of the transcriptomes of six scorpion species from three different families. The transcriptomes were annotated with a custom-built automated pipeline, primarily consisting of Basic Local Alignment Search Tool searches against UniProt databases and filter steps based on transcript coverage. We annotated the transcriptomes of four scorpions from the family Buthidae, one from Iuridae and one from Diplocentridae using our annotation pipeline. We found that the four buthid scorpions primarily produce disulfide-bridged ion-channel targeting toxins, while the non-buthid scorpions have a higher abundance of non-disulfide-bridged toxins. Furthermore, analysis of the “unidentified” transcripts resulted in the discovery of six novel putative toxin families containing a total of 37 novel putative toxins. Additionally, 33 novel toxins in existing toxin-families were found. Lastly, 19 novel putative secreted proteins without toxin-like disulfide bonds were found. We were able to assign most transcripts to a toxin family and classify the venom composition for all six scorpions. In addition to advancing our fundamental knowledge of scorpion venomics, this study may serve as a starting point for future research by facilitating the identification of the venom composition of scorpions and identifying novel putative toxin families.

ACS Style

Dwin G. B. Grashof; Harald M. I. Kerkkamp; Sandra Afonso; John Archer; D. James Harris; Michael K. Richardson; Freek J. Vonk; Arie Van Der Meijden. Transcriptome annotation and characterization of novel toxins in six scorpion species. BMC Genomics 2019, 20, 1 -10.

AMA Style

Dwin G. B. Grashof, Harald M. I. Kerkkamp, Sandra Afonso, John Archer, D. James Harris, Michael K. Richardson, Freek J. Vonk, Arie Van Der Meijden. Transcriptome annotation and characterization of novel toxins in six scorpion species. BMC Genomics. 2019; 20 (1):1-10.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dwin G. B. Grashof; Harald M. I. Kerkkamp; Sandra Afonso; John Archer; D. James Harris; Michael K. Richardson; Freek J. Vonk; Arie Van Der Meijden. 2019. "Transcriptome annotation and characterization of novel toxins in six scorpion species." BMC Genomics 20, no. 1: 1-10.

Journal article
Published: 22 October 2018 in Animal Behaviour
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Predator–prey arms races ensure that a prey's defences are well matched with the predator's ability to overcome them. Scorpions have a formidable defensive capacity due to their venomous stinger. Mammalian and squamate scorpion predators overpower scorpions by making repeated attacks. We tested here how scorpions, Hadrurus arizonensis, apply their venom defensively during a simulated repeated attack, consisting of 10 consecutive challenges. Since the persistent repeated attack of a predator, even when stung in the process, seems to indicate its resolve, we expected defensive effort to increase with the number of challenges. We also expected that, owing to the life-and-death nature of a predatory attack, scorpions would be liberal in the use of their venom. We found, however, that stinging behaviour, venom use and venom volume all decreased as the number of challenges increased. Scorpions used only 7.8±9.6% (mean±SD) of their total venom volume during an attack consisting of 10 consecutive challenges. We conclude that a repeated attack seems an effective strategy for scorpion predators to reduce the defensive investment of scorpions.

ACS Style

Mykola Rasko; Pedro Coelho; Yuri Simone; Arie Van Der Meijden. How to attack a scorpion: venom metering during a repeated attack. Animal Behaviour 2018, 145, 125 -129.

AMA Style

Mykola Rasko, Pedro Coelho, Yuri Simone, Arie Van Der Meijden. How to attack a scorpion: venom metering during a repeated attack. Animal Behaviour. 2018; 145 ():125-129.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mykola Rasko; Pedro Coelho; Yuri Simone; Arie Van Der Meijden. 2018. "How to attack a scorpion: venom metering during a repeated attack." Animal Behaviour 145, no. : 125-129.

Other
Published: 22 July 2018
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Theory predicts that sexually dimorphic traits under strong sexual selection, particularly those involved with intersexual signaling, can accelerate speciation and produce bursts of diversification. Sexual dichromatism (sexual dimorphism in color) is widely used as a proxy for sexual selection and is associated with rapid diversification in several animal groups, yet studies using phylogenetic comparative methods to explicitly test for an association between sexual dichromatism and diversification have produced conflicting results. Sexual dichromatism is rare in frogs, but it is both striking and prevalent in African reed frogs, a major component of the diverse frog radiation termed Afrobatrachia. In contrast to most other vertebrates, reed frogs display female-biased dichromatism in which females undergo color transformation, often resulting in more ornate coloration in females than in males. We produce a robust phylogeny of Afrobrachia to investigate the evolutionary origins of sexual dichromatism in this radiation and examine whether the presence of dichromatism is associated with increased rates of net diversification. We find that sexual dichromatism evolved once within hyperoliids and was followed by numerous independent reversals to monochromatism. We detect significant diversification rate heterogeneity in Afrobatrachia and find that sexually dichromatic lineages have double the average net diversification rate of monochromatic lineages. By conducting trait simulations on our empirical phylogeny, we demonstrate our inference of trait-dependent diversification is robust. Although sexual dichromatism in hyperoliid frogs is linked to their rapid diversification and supports macroevolutionary predictions of speciation by sexual selection, the function of dichromatism in reed frogs remains unclear. We propose that reed frogs are a compelling system for studying the roles of natural and sexual selection on the evolution of sexual dichromatism across both micro- and macroevolutionary timescales.

ACS Style

Daniel M. Portik; Rayna C. Bell; David C. Blackburn; Aaron M. Bauer; Christopher D. Barratt; William R. Branch; Marius Burger; Alan Channing; Timothy J. Colston; Werner Conradie; J. Maximillian Dehling; Robert C. Drewes; Raffael Ernst; Eli Greenbaum; Václav Gvoždík; James Harvey; Annika Hillers; Mareike Hirschfeld; Gregory F.M. Jongsma; Jos Kielgast; Marcel T. Kouete; Lucinda P. Lawson; Adam D. Leaché; Simon P. Loader; Stefan Lötters; Arie Van Der Meijden; Michele Menegon; Susanne Müller; Zoltán T. Nagy; Caleb Ofori-Boateng; Annemarie Ohler; Theodore J. Papenfuss; Daniela Rößler; Ulrich Sinsch; Mark-Oliver Rödel; Michael Veith; Jens Vindum; Ange-Ghislain Zassi-Boulou; Jimmy A. McGuire. Sexual Dichromatism Drives Diversification Within a Major Radiation of African Amphibians. 2018, 372250 .

AMA Style

Daniel M. Portik, Rayna C. Bell, David C. Blackburn, Aaron M. Bauer, Christopher D. Barratt, William R. Branch, Marius Burger, Alan Channing, Timothy J. Colston, Werner Conradie, J. Maximillian Dehling, Robert C. Drewes, Raffael Ernst, Eli Greenbaum, Václav Gvoždík, James Harvey, Annika Hillers, Mareike Hirschfeld, Gregory F.M. Jongsma, Jos Kielgast, Marcel T. Kouete, Lucinda P. Lawson, Adam D. Leaché, Simon P. Loader, Stefan Lötters, Arie Van Der Meijden, Michele Menegon, Susanne Müller, Zoltán T. Nagy, Caleb Ofori-Boateng, Annemarie Ohler, Theodore J. Papenfuss, Daniela Rößler, Ulrich Sinsch, Mark-Oliver Rödel, Michael Veith, Jens Vindum, Ange-Ghislain Zassi-Boulou, Jimmy A. McGuire. Sexual Dichromatism Drives Diversification Within a Major Radiation of African Amphibians. . 2018; ():372250.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel M. Portik; Rayna C. Bell; David C. Blackburn; Aaron M. Bauer; Christopher D. Barratt; William R. Branch; Marius Burger; Alan Channing; Timothy J. Colston; Werner Conradie; J. Maximillian Dehling; Robert C. Drewes; Raffael Ernst; Eli Greenbaum; Václav Gvoždík; James Harvey; Annika Hillers; Mareike Hirschfeld; Gregory F.M. Jongsma; Jos Kielgast; Marcel T. Kouete; Lucinda P. Lawson; Adam D. Leaché; Simon P. Loader; Stefan Lötters; Arie Van Der Meijden; Michele Menegon; Susanne Müller; Zoltán T. Nagy; Caleb Ofori-Boateng; Annemarie Ohler; Theodore J. Papenfuss; Daniela Rößler; Ulrich Sinsch; Mark-Oliver Rödel; Michael Veith; Jens Vindum; Ange-Ghislain Zassi-Boulou; Jimmy A. McGuire. 2018. "Sexual Dichromatism Drives Diversification Within a Major Radiation of African Amphibians." , no. : 372250.

Article
Published: 01 June 2018 in Journal of Insect Behavior
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Scorpions are dominant predators in some environments. Nevertheless, most studies of predatory behavior in scorpions have focused on diet composition whereas some other relevant aspects, such as predatory strategy, have been poorly explored. Herein we evaluate the prey acceptance and predatory strategy of the scorpion Bothriurus bonariensis against sympatric prey with different defenses. As prey, we selected earwigs (Forficula cf. auricularia) which use pincer-like defensive appendages, hard-bodied isopods (Armadillium vulgare) known for their conglobation defensive strategy, soft bodied isopods (Porcellio cf. scaber), which secrete noxious substances as defense mechanisms, cockroaches with limited defensive mechanisms (Blatta cf. orientalis.) and spiders (Lycosa cf. poliostoma) which possess venomous fangs. Prey were offered to 21 adults of B. bonariensis in random order until all prey had been offered to all scorpions. Prey consumption and the number of attempts needed for capture were recorded. We also evaluated the effect of sting use on immobilization time as well as the prey capture strategies on the most consumed prey. We found that despite using a similar number of attempts for capturing all prey, spiders and armadillid isopods were less consumed than other prey. Immobilization times were longer for earwigs than for armadillid isopods and cockroaches. Scorpions used alternative predatory strategies against these aforementioned prey, although the stinger was used against all of them. These results show that scorpions are able to use different predatory strategies which might allow them to include prey with diverse defensive strategies in their diet.

ACS Style

Yuri Simone; Luis Fernando Garcia; Mariangeles Lacava; Arie Van Der Meijden; Carmen Viera. Predatory Versatility in Females of the Scorpion Bothriurus bonariensis (Scorpiones: Bothriuridae): Overcoming Prey with Different Defensive Mechanisms. Journal of Insect Behavior 2018, 31, 402 -415.

AMA Style

Yuri Simone, Luis Fernando Garcia, Mariangeles Lacava, Arie Van Der Meijden, Carmen Viera. Predatory Versatility in Females of the Scorpion Bothriurus bonariensis (Scorpiones: Bothriuridae): Overcoming Prey with Different Defensive Mechanisms. Journal of Insect Behavior. 2018; 31 (4):402-415.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yuri Simone; Luis Fernando Garcia; Mariangeles Lacava; Arie Van Der Meijden; Carmen Viera. 2018. "Predatory Versatility in Females of the Scorpion Bothriurus bonariensis (Scorpiones: Bothriuridae): Overcoming Prey with Different Defensive Mechanisms." Journal of Insect Behavior 31, no. 4: 402-415.

Journal article
Published: 21 December 2017 in Biological Journal of the Linnean Society
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The functional trade-off between force and speed in simple muscle–lever systems is a well-known example of a possible biomechanical impedance to phenotypic diversity. Few clear interspecific examples exist of this trade-off. We report the closing speed and force of the chela (pincer), a simple muscle–lever system, in nine species of scorpions with diverse chela morphologies. Chela closing speed was calculated from three-dimensional landmark trajectories reconstructed from high-speed video. Closing force was measured using a piezo force gauge. Chela closing speed ranged from 83.5 to 682.5 mm/s. We found a significant negative correlation between maximum force and speed across the species. This correlation persisted when taking phylogenetic relationships into account, suggesting a functional trade-off. We found chela finger length to be correlated with lengthening of other pedipalp segments, and an increased gape angle. These findings suggest selection for increased gape and reach in longer-fingered species. We show that the variance in closing speed across species is due to an elongated out-lever, and that in-lever length and muscle contraction speed also contribute to the increased closing speed. We experimentally confirm the trade-off between force and speed in a muscle–lever system across species, and quantify the contributions of the lever and the muscle.

ACS Style

Yuri Simone; Arie Van Der Meijden. Fast and fine versus strong and stout: a trade-off between chela closing force and speed across nine scorpion species. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 2017, 123, 208 -217.

AMA Style

Yuri Simone, Arie Van Der Meijden. Fast and fine versus strong and stout: a trade-off between chela closing force and speed across nine scorpion species. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 2017; 123 (1):208-217.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Yuri Simone; Arie Van Der Meijden. 2017. "Fast and fine versus strong and stout: a trade-off between chela closing force and speed across nine scorpion species." Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 123, no. 1: 208-217.

Journal article
Published: 30 November 2017 in Scientific Reports
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Self-righting, the capacity of an animal to self-turn after falling on its back, is a fitness-related trait. Delayed self-righting can result in loss of mating opportunities or death. Traits involved in self-righting may therefore be under selection. Galápagos giant tortoises have two main shell morphologies - saddleback and domed - that have been proposed to be adaptive. The more sloped shape on the sides of the shell and the longer extension of neck and legs of the saddlebacks could have evolved to optimize self-righting. The drier environments with more uneven surfaces where the saddleback tortoises occur increases their risk to fall on their back while walking. The ability to fast overturn could reduce the danger of dying. To test this hypothesis, we used 3D shell reconstructions of 89 Galápagos giant tortoises from three domed and two saddleback species to compare self-righting potential of the two shell morphotypes. Our results indicate that saddleback shells require higher energy input to self-right than domed ones. This suggests that several traits associated with the saddleback shell morphology could have evolved to facilitate self-righting. Studying the functional performances of fitness-related traits, as in this work, could provide important insight into the adaptive value of traits.

ACS Style

Ylenia Chiari; Arie Van Der Meijden; Adalgisa Caccone; Julien Claude; Benjamin Gilles. Self-righting potential and the evolution of shell shape in Galápagos tortoises. Scientific Reports 2017, 7, 15828 .

AMA Style

Ylenia Chiari, Arie Van Der Meijden, Adalgisa Caccone, Julien Claude, Benjamin Gilles. Self-righting potential and the evolution of shell shape in Galápagos tortoises. Scientific Reports. 2017; 7 (1):15828.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ylenia Chiari; Arie Van Der Meijden; Adalgisa Caccone; Julien Claude; Benjamin Gilles. 2017. "Self-righting potential and the evolution of shell shape in Galápagos tortoises." Scientific Reports 7, no. 1: 15828.

Comparative study
Published: 04 October 2017 in Toxins
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Scorpions use their venom in defensive situations as well as for subduing prey. Since some species of scorpion use their venom more in defensive situations than others, this may have led to selection for differences in effectiveness in defensive situations. Here, we compared the LD50 of the venom of 10 species of scorpions on five different species of target organisms; two insects and three vertebrates. We found little correlation between the target species in the efficacy of the different scorpion venoms. Only the two insects showed a positive correlation, indicating that they responded similarly to the panel of scorpion venoms. We discuss the lack of positive correlation between the vertebrate target species in the light of their evolution and development. When comparing the responses of the target systems to individual scorpion venoms pairwise, we found that closely related scorpion species tend to elicit a similar response pattern across the target species. This was further reflected in a significant phylogenetic signal across the scorpion phylogeny for the LD50 in mice and in zebrafish. We also provide the first mouse LD50 value for Grosphus grandidieri.

ACS Style

Arie Van Der Meijden; Bjørn Koch; Tom Van Der Valk; Leidy J. Vargas-Muñoz; Sebastian Estrada-Gómez. Target-Specificity in Scorpions; Comparing Lethality of Scorpion Venoms across Arthropods and Vertebrates. Toxins 2017, 9, 312 .

AMA Style

Arie Van Der Meijden, Bjørn Koch, Tom Van Der Valk, Leidy J. Vargas-Muñoz, Sebastian Estrada-Gómez. Target-Specificity in Scorpions; Comparing Lethality of Scorpion Venoms across Arthropods and Vertebrates. Toxins. 2017; 9 (10):312.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Arie Van Der Meijden; Bjørn Koch; Tom Van Der Valk; Leidy J. Vargas-Muñoz; Sebastian Estrada-Gómez. 2017. "Target-Specificity in Scorpions; Comparing Lethality of Scorpion Venoms across Arthropods and Vertebrates." Toxins 9, no. 10: 312.

Conference paper
Published: 19 July 2017 in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences
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Building behaviour in animals extends biological functions beyond bodies. Many studies have emphasized the role of behavioural programmes, physiology and extrinsic factors for the structure and function of buildings. Structure attachments associated with animal constructions offer yet unrealized research opportunities. Spiders build a variety of one- to three-dimensional structures from silk fibres. The evolution of economic web shapes as a key for ecological success in spiders has been related to the emergence of high performance silks and thread coating glues. However, the role of thread anchorages has been widely neglected in those models. Here, we show that orb-web (Araneidae) and hunting spiders (Sparassidae) use different silk application patterns that determine the structure and robustness of the joint in silk thread anchorages. Silk anchorages of orb-web spiders show a greater robustness against different loading situations, whereas the silk anchorages of hunting spiders have their highest pull-off resistance when loaded parallel to the substrate along the direction of dragline spinning. This suggests that the behavioural ‘printing' of silk into attachment discs along with spinneret morphology was a prerequisite for the evolution of extended silk use in a three-dimensional space. This highlights the ecological role of attachments in the evolution of animal architectures.

ACS Style

Jonas O. Wolff; Arie van der Meijden; Marie Herberstein. Distinct spinning patterns gain differentiated loading tolerance of silk thread anchorages in spiders with different ecology. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 2017, 284, 20171124 .

AMA Style

Jonas O. Wolff, Arie van der Meijden, Marie Herberstein. Distinct spinning patterns gain differentiated loading tolerance of silk thread anchorages in spiders with different ecology. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences. 2017; 284 (1859):20171124.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Jonas O. Wolff; Arie van der Meijden; Marie Herberstein. 2017. "Distinct spinning patterns gain differentiated loading tolerance of silk thread anchorages in spiders with different ecology." Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 284, no. 1859: 20171124.

Journal article
Published: 01 May 2017 in Toxicon
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The objective of this study was to characterize six different scorpion venoms using biological and biochemical methods, including a preliminary MS/MS and a post-translational modifications analysis. Despite the diversity of scorpion species of medical importance in Africa and Colombia, the venoms of these arachnids have been poorly studied in these two regions. We report the biochemical, electrophoretic, chromatographic profile, internal peptide sequences with a post-translational modification report, and a preliminary antitumor activity of five different scorpions of the Buthidae family, Androctonus amoreuxi, Babycurus jacksoni, Grosphus grandidieri, Hottentotta gentili and Tityus fuhrmanni, and one of the Scorpionidae family Pandinus imperator. No L-amino oxidase activity was detected in the evaluated venoms. Proteolytic activity using azocasein was detected only in G. grandidieri and P. imperator, indicating the possible presence of metalloproteinases in these two venoms. Proteolytic activity using NOBA was detected in all venoms indicating the possible presence of serine-proteinases. Phospholipase A activity was detected in the venoms of P. imperator, G. grandidieri, H. gentili and A. amoreuxi, with P. imperator venom being the most active. All venoms analyzed contained defensin-like proteins, alpha toxins, metalloproteinases, neuropeptides, DBP affecting ion channels, DBP with antimicrobial activity, among others. Venoms from P. imperator, G. grandidieri and T. fuhrmanni showed a dose-dependent cytotoxic activity over MCF-7 cells. Only two isolated RP-HPLC fractions from P. imperator and T. fuhrmanni showed cytotoxic activity over MCF-7. No cytotoxic activity was found in the venoms from A. amoreuxi, B. jacksoni, and H. gentili.

ACS Style

Sebastian Estrada-Gómez; Lyz Gomez-Rave; Leidy Johana Vargas-Muñoz; Arie Van Der Meijden. Characterizing the biological and biochemical profile of six different scorpion venoms from the Buthidae and Scorpionidae family. Toxicon 2017, 130, 104 -115.

AMA Style

Sebastian Estrada-Gómez, Lyz Gomez-Rave, Leidy Johana Vargas-Muñoz, Arie Van Der Meijden. Characterizing the biological and biochemical profile of six different scorpion venoms from the Buthidae and Scorpionidae family. Toxicon. 2017; 130 ():104-115.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sebastian Estrada-Gómez; Lyz Gomez-Rave; Leidy Johana Vargas-Muñoz; Arie Van Der Meijden. 2017. "Characterizing the biological and biochemical profile of six different scorpion venoms from the Buthidae and Scorpionidae family." Toxicon 130, no. : 104-115.

Standard paper
Published: 27 March 2017 in Functional Ecology
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Like many other venomous organisms, scorpions use their venom in defence against predators. Scorpions apply their venomous stinger by extending the caudal part of the body, the metasoma, forward towards the attacker. There are considerable differences in metasoma morphology among scorpion species, and these may afford differences in defensive strike performance. We investigated the movement trajectory and kinematics of the defensive strike in seven species of scorpions, and how these variables are related to each other, and to morphology. We recorded defensive strikes using high‐speed video, and reconstructed the trajectory of the telson. From these trajectories, we calculated velocity, acceleration and other kinematic variables. To compare strike trajectory shapes, we used geometric morphometrics. We have shown that the defensive strike differs in trajectory shape, speed, path length and duration between scorpion species. Body size is also an important factor affecting strike characteristics. Relative metasoma length and girth may also influence strike performance, as well as strike trajectory shape. Strikes with different trajectories have different kinematic properties: those with open trajectory shapes attain higher speeds. Our results show that performance differences in defensive behaviour between different scorpion species may be partly mediated by morphology, binding together phenotypic, functional and behavioural diversity. A lay summary is available for this article.

ACS Style

Pedro Coelho; Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou; Mykola Rasko; Arie Van Der Meijden. A ‘striking’ relationship: scorpion defensive behaviour and its relation to morphology and performance. Functional Ecology 2017, 31, 1390 -1404.

AMA Style

Pedro Coelho, Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou, Mykola Rasko, Arie Van Der Meijden. A ‘striking’ relationship: scorpion defensive behaviour and its relation to morphology and performance. Functional Ecology. 2017; 31 (7):1390-1404.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Pedro Coelho; Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou; Mykola Rasko; Arie Van Der Meijden. 2017. "A ‘striking’ relationship: scorpion defensive behaviour and its relation to morphology and performance." Functional Ecology 31, no. 7: 1390-1404.

Journal article
Published: 28 December 2016 in Journal of Anatomy
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Scorpions have elongated metasomas that bear a telson, which is used as a stinger for venom injection. There is a remarkable diversity in the use of the stinger among scorpions, comprising defensive behavior, prey subjugation and mating. This diversity could be reflected by the shape of the telson, as different stinging behaviors will result in very different functional demands. Here we explored the diversity of telson shapes in scorpions by providing morphological measurements, such as curvature and tip angle, as well as by testing stingers under load using finite element analysis (FEA). FEA models were loaded with forces scaled to the surface area of the models, to allow comparison of the relative strain energy based on shape alone. Load force angle was rotated to identify the optimal stinging angle based on the lowest strain energy. Aculeus length and mean aculeus height correlated with minimal strain energy. Optimal stinging angle correlated with tip angle, and differed from the tip angle by about 28.4 ± 6.22 °. We found that species that are more venomous have long aculei (stinger barbs) with a larger radius of curvature. FEA models of these longer aculei showed basal stress concentrations, indicating a potential greater risk of basal breakage due to shape alone. Telsons with shorter and thicker aculeus shapes showed stress concentrations at the tip only. Despite these marked differences in shape, we found no difference in the scaled strain energy between groups of species that are more venomous and less venomous groups of species. These results show that scorpion stingers may be biomechanically optimized, and this may indicate different usage of the stinger in different species.

ACS Style

Arie Van Der Meijden; Thomas Kleinteich. A biomechanical view on stinger diversity in scorpions. Journal of Anatomy 2016, 230, 497 -509.

AMA Style

Arie Van Der Meijden, Thomas Kleinteich. A biomechanical view on stinger diversity in scorpions. Journal of Anatomy. 2016; 230 (4):497-509.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Arie Van Der Meijden; Thomas Kleinteich. 2016. "A biomechanical view on stinger diversity in scorpions." Journal of Anatomy 230, no. 4: 497-509.

Journal article
Published: 23 April 2015 in Toxicon
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Scorpions have been shown to control their venom usage in defensive encounters, depending on the perceived threat. Potentially, the venom amount that is injected could be controlled by reducing the flow speed, the flow duration, or both. We here investigated these variables by allowing scorpions to sting into an oil-filled chamber, and recording the accreting venom droplets with high-speed video. The size of the spherical droplets on the video can then be used to calculate their volume. We recorded defensive stings of 20 specimens representing 5 species. Significant differences in the flow rate and total expelled volume were found between species. These differences are likely due to differences in overall size between the species. Large variation in both venom flow speed and duration are described between stinging events of single individuals. Both venom flow rate and flow duration correlate highly with the total expelled volume, indicating that scorpions may control both variables in order to achieve a desired end volume of venom during a sting.

ACS Style

Arie Van Der Meijden; Pedro Coelho; Mykola Rasko. Variability in venom volume, flow rate and duration in defensive stings of five scorpion species. Toxicon 2015, 100, 60 -66.

AMA Style

Arie Van Der Meijden, Pedro Coelho, Mykola Rasko. Variability in venom volume, flow rate and duration in defensive stings of five scorpion species. Toxicon. 2015; 100 ():60-66.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Arie Van Der Meijden; Pedro Coelho; Mykola Rasko. 2015. "Variability in venom volume, flow rate and duration in defensive stings of five scorpion species." Toxicon 100, no. : 60-66.

Comparative study
Published: 01 September 2014 in Toxicon
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The LD50 is an important metric for venom studies and antivenom development. It has been shown that several variables in the protocol influence the LD50 value obtained, such as venom source, extraction and treatment and administration route. These inconsistencies reduce the utility of the results of these test for comparative studies. In scorpion venom LD50 assays, often only the soluble fraction of the venom is used, whereas other studies use the whole venom. We here tested the toxicity of the soluble fraction in isolation, and of the whole venom in two different systems: chick embryos and mealworms Tenebrio molitor. Ten microliters of venom solutions from Hadrurus arizonensis, Leiurus quinquestriatus, Androctonus australis, Grosphus grandidieri and Heterometrus laoticus were applied to five day old chicken embryos at stage 25-27. Our results showed no significant differences between the LD50 based on the whole venom versus that of only the soluble fraction and in the chicken embryo assay in four of the five scorpion species tested. H. laoticus however, showed a significantly lower LD50 value for the whole venom than the soluble fraction. In assays on mealworms however, this pattern was not seen. Nonetheless, caution may be warranted when using LD50 values obtained from only the soluble fraction. The LD50 values of the five species in this study, based on the chicken embryo assay, showed good correlation with values from the literature based on mouse studies. This suggests that the chick embryo assay may be an economic alternative to rodent assays for scorpion LD50 studies.

ACS Style

Tom Van Der Valk; Arie Van Der Meijden. Toxicity of scorpion venom in chick embryo and mealworm assay depending on the use of the soluble fraction versus the whole venom. Toxicon 2014, 88, 38 -43.

AMA Style

Tom Van Der Valk, Arie Van Der Meijden. Toxicity of scorpion venom in chick embryo and mealworm assay depending on the use of the soluble fraction versus the whole venom. Toxicon. 2014; 88 ():38-43.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tom Van Der Valk; Arie Van Der Meijden. 2014. "Toxicity of scorpion venom in chick embryo and mealworm assay depending on the use of the soluble fraction versus the whole venom." Toxicon 88, no. : 38-43.

Journal article
Published: 01 June 2014 in Acta Tropica
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The genus Androctonus, commonly known as fat-tailed scorpions, contains 22 species distributed from Togo and Mauritania in the west, North Africa, through the Middle East and to as far east as India. With 13 species, a substantial amount of this genus' diversity occurs in North Africa, which is a major hotspot of scorpion sting incidents. Androctonus are among the most medically relevant animals in North Africa. Since venom composition within species is known to vary regionally, the improvement of therapeutic management depends on a correct assessment of the existing regional specific and sub-specific variation. In this study, we assessed the phylogeographical patterns in six species of Androctonus scorpions from North Africa using mitochondrial DNA markers. We sequenced COX1, 12S, 16S and ND1 genes from 110 individuals. Despite lacking basal resolution in the tree, we found taxonomical and geographically coherent clades. We discovered deep intraspecific variation in the widespread Androctonus amoreuxi and Androctonus australis, which consisted of several well-supported clades. Genetic distances between some of these clades are as high as those found between species. North African A. australis have a deep split in Tunisia around the Chott el-Djerid salt-lake. A novel split between A. amoreuxi scorpions was found in Morocco. We also found deep divergences in Androctonus mauritanicus, corresponding to areas attributed to invalidated subspecies. In addition we uncovered a clade of specimens from coastal south Morocco, which could not be ascribed to any know species using morphological characters. Based on these findings we recommend a reassessment of venom potency and anti-venom efficacy between these deep intraspecific divergent clades.

ACS Style

P. Coelho; P. Sousa; D.J. Harris; A. Van Der Meijden. Deep intraspecific divergences in the medically relevant fat-tailed scorpions (Androctonus, Scorpiones). Acta Tropica 2014, 134, 43 -51.

AMA Style

P. Coelho, P. Sousa, D.J. Harris, A. Van Der Meijden. Deep intraspecific divergences in the medically relevant fat-tailed scorpions (Androctonus, Scorpiones). Acta Tropica. 2014; 134 ():43-51.

Chicago/Turabian Style

P. Coelho; P. Sousa; D.J. Harris; A. Van Der Meijden. 2014. "Deep intraspecific divergences in the medically relevant fat-tailed scorpions (Androctonus, Scorpiones)." Acta Tropica 134, no. : 43-51.