Phylogenetic analysis of the winter and southernmost scorpion genus Urophonius (Bothriuridae), with the description of two new Patagonian species

Ojanguren‐Affilastro, Andrés A.; Ramı́rez, Martı́n J.; Pizarro-Araya, Jaime

doi:10.1016/j.jcz.2020.09.003

Cited by 8 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 27 publications

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“…This is a relatively common species in shrub steppes of the Pampean region that can be found even in areas with some degree of human activity. It is one of the few known species of scorpion that has a winter activity period, being active from May to August during the Southern Hemisphere winter (Ojanguren-Affilastro et al, 2020).…”

Section: U Brachycentrus Occurs In Central Argentina From Southern Chacomentioning

confidence: 99%

First biochemical and behavioural analysis of the response of the scorpion Urophonius brachycentrus (Thorell: 1876) upon exposure to an organophosphate

Garcia,

Ojanguren,

Seoane

et al. 2024

Medical Vet Entomology

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Scorpionism is an increasing public health problem in the world. Although no specific methodology or product is currently available for the control of those arachnids, the use of insecticides could be an effective tool. Chlorpyrifos is one of the insecticides used, but to date, whether scorpions recognise surfaces with that insecticide and how it affects their physiology and/or biochemistry is unknown. In the present study, we observed that scorpions recognise surfaces with 0.51 and 8.59 μg/cm2 of chlorpyrifos and avoid those areas. The 0.51 μg/cm2 concentration produced a decrease in acetylcholinesterase and an increase in catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione S‐transferase, whereas the 8.59 μg/cm2 concentration evoked a decrease in acetylcholinesterase and an increase in catalase and glutathione S‐transferase. Using the comet assay, we observed that the insecticide at 0.17, 0.51 and 8.59 μg/cm2 caused DNA damage. Finally, we found that the insecticide does not generate significant variations in glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, the amount of protein or lipid peroxidation. The present results offer a comprehensive understanding of how scorpions respond, both at the biochemical and behavioural levels, when exposed to insecticides.

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Section: U Brachycentrus Occurs In Central Argentina From Southern Chacomentioning

confidence: 99%

First biochemical and behavioural analysis of the response of the scorpion Urophonius brachycentrus (Thorell: 1876) upon exposure to an organophosphate

Garcia,

Ojanguren,

Seoane

et al. 2024

Medical Vet Entomology

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Mosaic Evolution of Grasping and Genital Traits in Two Sympatric Scorpion Species with Reproductive Interference

Oviedo-Diego,

Mattoni,

Bollatti

et al. 2024

Evol Biol

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Reproductive interference (RI) can occur when two related species coexist in sympatry, involving sexual attraction, mating, and even hybridization between heterospeci cs. Consequently, reproductive key characters of these species may suffer morphological shifts in sympatry to avoid the success of heterospeci c sexual interactions, a phenomenon known as reproductive character displacement (RCD). RCD can be promoted by natural selection, although sexual selection pressures can act synergistically or agonistically so that phenotypic variation can respond in different directions and magnitudes to these forces. In turn, the size and shape of characters may respond differentially (mosaic evolution) to these pressures, so the analysis of multiple dimensions in traits is essential to understand the complexity of their phenotypic variability. To date, there are no studies evaluating this topic in scorpions, and two species (Urophonius brachycentrus and U. achalensis) sympatric and synchronous with RI represent an ideal model to evaluate the phenotypic variation and occurrence of RCD. In addition, the populations of these species are found in an altitudinal cline, so environmental factors may also be responsible for explaining their morphological variation. We compared the intra-speci c variation, the size and shape of multiple characters involved in courtship, and sperm transfer in individuals from sympatric and allopatric populations using geometric morphometrics. We found asymmetric RCD of several sexual characters for courtship success (grasping structures) and sperm transfer (genital characters). This would evidence the action of natural selection pressures and the existence of a possible mechanism to avoid heterospeci c mating success. In addition, we found a pattern of asymmetric morphological variation where one species in the sympatric zone suffered an increase in size in several characters due to environmental factors (pattern of morphological convergence).The convergence of characters combined with RI and a scramble competition mating system could intensify sexual selection pressures on speci c characters, which was re ected in their high coe cients of variation. Our results suggest that in this sympatric zone, several selective regimes act differentially on various dimensions of the characters evaluated, which would support a possible mosaic evolution. This comprehensive study illuminates the complexity inherent in the evolution of multi-functional traits in a previously unexplored model, providing novel insights for evaluating traits under multiple selective pressures in animal systems experimenting RI.

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Interaction between sexual communication functions leads to reproductive interference in two syntopic scorpion species

et al. 2021

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Phylogenetic analysis of the winter and southernmost scorpion genus Urophonius (Bothriuridae), with the description of two new Patagonian species

Cited by 8 publications

References 27 publications

First biochemical and behavioural analysis of the response of the scorpion Urophonius brachycentrus (Thorell: 1876) upon exposure to an organophosphate

First biochemical and behavioural analysis of the response of the scorpion Urophonius brachycentrus (Thorell: 1876) upon exposure to an organophosphate

Mosaic Evolution of Grasping and Genital Traits in Two Sympatric Scorpion Species with Reproductive Interference

Interaction between sexual communication functions leads to reproductive interference in two syntopic scorpion species

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