The World Spider Trait database: a centralized global open repository for curated data on spider traits.

Spiders are a highly diversified group of arthropods and play an important role in terrestrial ecosystems as ubiquitous predators, which makes them a suitable group to test a variety of eco-evolutionary hypotheses. For this purpose, knowledge of a diverse range of species traits is required. Until now, data on spider traits have been scattered across thousands of publications produced for over two centuries and written in diverse languages.

Linear Peptides-A Combinatorial Innovation in the Venom of Some Modern Spiders.

In the venom of spiders, linear peptides (LPs), also called cytolytical or antimicrobial peptides, represent a largely neglected group of mostly membrane active substances that contribute in some spider species considerably to the killing power of spider venom. By next-generation sequencing venom gland transcriptome analysis, we investigated 48 spider species from 23 spider families and detected LPs in 20 species, belonging to five spider families (Ctenidae, Lycosidae, Oxyopidae, Pisauridae, and Zodariidae). The structural diversity is extraordinary high in some species: the lynx spider contains 62 and the lycosid 60 different LPs.

Using structured eradication feasibility assessment to prioritize the management of new and emerging invasive alien species in Europe.

Prioritizing the management of invasive alien species (IAS) is of global importance and within Europe integral to the EU IAS regulation. To prioritize management effectively, the risks posed by IAS need to be assessed, but so too does the feasibility of their management. While the risk of IAS to the EU has been assessed, the feasibility of management has not.

Neurotoxin Merging: A Strategy Deployed by the Venom of the Spider to Potentiate Toxicity on Insects.

The venom of is composed of dozens of neurotoxins, with most of them supposed to act on ion channels. Some insecticidal monomeric neurotoxins contain an α-helical part besides their inhibitor cystine knot (ICK) motif (type 1). Other neurotoxins have, besides the ICK motif, an α-helical part of an open loop, resulting in a heterodimeric structure (type 2).

Spider Venom: Components, Modes of Action, and Novel Strategies in Transcriptomic and Proteomic Analyses.

This review gives an overview on the development of research on spider venoms with a focus on structure and function of venom components and techniques of analysis. Major venom component groups are small molecular mass compounds, antimicrobial (also called cytolytic, or cationic) peptides (only in some spider families), cysteine-rich (neurotoxic) peptides, and enzymes and proteins. Cysteine-rich peptides are reviewed with respect to various structural motifs, their targets (ion channels, membrane receptors), nomenclature, and molecular binding.

The Dual Prey-Inactivation Strategy of Spiders-In-Depth Venomic Analysis of .

Most knowledge of spider venom concerns neurotoxins acting on ion channels, whereas proteins and their significance for the envenomation process are neglected. The here presented comprehensive analysis of the venom gland transcriptome and proteome of focusses on proteins and cysteine-containing peptides and offers new insight into the structure and function of spider venom, here described as the dual prey-inactivation strategy. After venom injection, many enzymes and proteins, dominated by α-amylase, angiotensin-converting enzyme, and cysteine-rich secretory proteins, interact with main metabolic pathways, leading to a major disturbance of the cellular homeostasis.

How not to delimit taxa: a critique on a recently proposed "pragmatic classification" of jumping spiders (Arthropoda: Arachnida: Araneae: Salticidae).

Modern taxonomy and systematics profit from an invaluable tool that has been developed in the course of more than a century by intense discussions and negotiations of generations of zoologists and palaeontologists: The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 1999, 2012). The main goal of the Code is "to promote stability and universality in the scientific names of animals and to ensure that the name of each taxon is unique and distinct" (Melville 1995, ICZN 1999: 2). The provisions of the Code are generally accepted and thoroughly applied by the scientific community.

Matching global and regional distribution models of the recluse spider Loxosceles rufescens: to what extent do these reflect niche conservatism?

The Mediterranean recluse spider, Loxosceles rufescens (Dufour, 1820) (Araneae: Sicariidae) is a cosmopolitan spider that has been introduced in many parts of the world. Its bite can be dangerous to humans. However, the potential distribution of this alien species, which is able to spread fairly quickly with human aid, is completely unknown.

Identification of a precursor processing protease from the spider essential for venom neurotoxin maturation.

Spider venom neurotoxins and cytolytic peptides are expressed as elongated precursor peptides, which are post-translationally processed by proteases to yield the active mature peptides. The recognition motifs for these processing proteases, first published more than 10 years ago, include the processing quadruplet motif (PQM) and the inverted processing quadruplet motif (iPQM). However, the identification of the relevant proteases was still pending.

Distribution and medical aspects of Loxosceles rufescens, one of the most invasive spiders of the world (Araneae: Sicariidae).

Loxosceles rufescens is a circum-Mediterranean spider species, potentially harmful to humans. Its native area covers the Mediterranean Basin and Near East. Easily spread with transported goods, it is meanwhile an alien and invasive species to nearly all other continents and many islands.

Peptidomic and transcriptomic profiling of four distinct spider venoms.

Venom based research is exploited to find novel candidates for the development of innovative pharmacological tools, drug candidates and new ingredients for cosmetic and agrochemical industries. Moreover, venomics, as a well-established approach in systems biology, helps to elucidate the genetic mechanisms of the production of such a great molecular biodiversity. Today the advances made in the proteomics, transcriptomics and bioinformatics fields, favor venomics, allowing the in depth study of complex matrices and the elucidation even of minor compounds present in minute biological samples.

Combining morphology, DNA sequences, and morphometrics: revising closely related species in the orb-weaving spider genus Araniella (Araneae, Araneidae).

The integration of independent data sets could solve problems in both traditional and DNA-based taxonomy. The aim of this study is to investigate the power of CO1 sequences and of morphometrics to distinguish closely related species in the spider genus Araniella. We put special emphasis on the species pair A.

How informative are case studies of spider bites in the medical literature?

We analyzed the reliability and information content of 134 medical case studies on spider bites, published in 91 journal articles. Overall, we found that only 22% of these studies fulfilled the criteria for a verified spider bite. This means that the majority of such case studies cannot be attributed to a given spider species and usually not even to a spider.

Isolation, N-glycosylations and Function of a Hyaluronidase-Like Enzyme from the Venom of the Spider Cupiennius salei.

Structure Of Cupiennius Salei Venom Hyaluronidase: Hyaluronidases are important venom components acting as spreading factor of toxic compounds. In several studies this spreading effect was tested on vertebrate tissue. However, data about the spreading activity on invertebrates, the main prey organisms of spiders, are lacking.

The new Southeast Asian goblin spider genus Aposphragisma (Araneae, Oonopidae): diversity and phylogeny.

The new genus Aposphragisma (Araneae, Oonopidae, Oonopinae) comprising the new species A. baltenspergerae, A. borgulai, A.

A unified classification of alien species based on the magnitude of their environmental impacts.

Species moved by human activities beyond the limits of their native geographic ranges into areas in which they do not naturally occur (termed aliens) can cause a broad range of significant changes to recipient ecosystems; however, their impacts vary greatly across species and the ecosystems into which they are introduced. There is therefore a critical need for a standardised method to evaluate, compare, and eventually predict the magnitudes of these different impacts. Here, we propose a straightforward system for classifying alien species according to the magnitude of their environmental impacts, based on the mechanisms of impact used to code species in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Global Invasive Species Database, which are presented here for the first time.

A verified spider bite and a review of the literature confirm Indian ornamental tree spiders (Poecilotheria species) as underestimated theraphosids of medical importance.

Literature on bird spider or tarantula bites (Theraphosidae) is rare. This is astonishing as they are coveted pets and interaction with their keepers (feeding, cleaning the terrarium or taking them out to hold) might increase the possibility for bites. Yet, this seems to be a rare event and might be why most theraphosids are considered to be harmless, even though the urticating hairs of many American species can cause disagreeable allergic reactions.

Functional differentiation of spider hemocytes by light and transmission electron microscopy, and MALDI-MS-imaging.

The most abundant cell types in the hemolymph of Cupiennius salei are plasmatocytes (70-80%) and granulocytes (20-30%). Both cells differ in shape, cytochemical and transmission electron microscopy staining of their cytoplasma and granules. According to MALDI-IMS (matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation-mass spectrometry imaging), granulocytes exhibit ctenidin 1 (9510 Da) and ctenidin 3 (9568 Da), SIBD-1 (8675 Da), and unknown peptides with masses of 2207 and 6239 Da.

Swiss prospective study on spider bites.

Knowledge of spider bites in Central Europe derives mainly from anecdotal case presentations; therefore we aimed to collect cases systematically. From June 2011 to November 2012 we prospectively collected 17 cases of alleged spider bites, and together with two spontaneous notifications later on, our database totaled 19 cases. Among them, eight cases could be verified.

A two year study of verified spider bites in Switzerland and a review of the European spider bite literature.

During a two-year study, all spider bites recorded by Swiss primary care physicians were reported to the Swiss Toxicological Information Centre and all collected spiders were identified. A total of 14 verified spider bites were recorded, involving five species from four families: Zoropsis spinimana (five cases), Cheiracanthium punctorium (four cases), Tegenaria atrica (three cases) and one case of Malthonica ferruginea (= Tegenaria ferruginea) (both Agelenidae), and one case of Amaurobius ferox (Amaurobiidae). The bites of all spider species produced relatively mild symptoms.