Elsevier

Toxicon

Volume 43, Issue 5, April 2004, Pages 471-475
Toxicon

Editorial
The wonderful world of spiders: preface to the special Toxicon issue on spider venoms

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxicon.2004.02.001Get rights and content

Abstract

Spiders are remarkable for their complete reliance on predation as a trophic strategy. Their evolutionary success is due in large part to production of a complex venom that is designed to rapidly subdue or kill their prey. This issue provides an overview of the fascinating complexity of these venoms, a realistic account of the danger they pose to humans, and an examination of their immense but largely untapped potential for drug and insecticide discovery.

Section snippets

The wonderful world of spiders

Spiders provoke a wider range of emotions virtually than any other creature. To many, the chance early morning sighting of a delicate orb-web, decorated with beads of dew and backlit by the morning sun, while its eight-legged architect-builder adorns the hub, is one of the most miraculous and inspiring sights in nature. To others, the merest glimpse of a spider provokes an irrational and often debilitating fear. Some individuals suffer such severe arachnophobia that therapeutic intervention is

Anatomy and phylogeny of spiders: a brief primer

Taxonomically, spiders comprise the order Araneae within the class Arachnida, which also includes scorpions, pseudoscorpions, ticks, and mites (Fig. 1). Arachnids differ from insects in lacking antennae and wings, and having eight legs rather than six. Moreover, whereas insects have three distinct body segments, most arachnids have only two—the prosoma/cephalothorax (combined head and thorax), and the opisthosoma/abdomen, which in spiders are separated by a narrow pedicel or ‘waist’. The

Spider venom and the evolution of combinatorial peptide chemistry

The Spider turned him round about, and went into his den,

For well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again;

So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly,

And set his table ready, to dine upon the Fly.

(From The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt, 1829)

All spiders are predators and, with the exception of the hackled orbweavers (Uloboridae) and certain species of primitive mesothelids, all have venom glands. Uloborids swathe their prey so tightly with feathery (hackled) silk that they have

What is covered in this issue?

The intention of this volume is to provide an overview of the remarkable complexity of spider venoms, a realistic assessment of the danger they pose to humans, and an examination of their potential for drug and insecticide discovery. At the same time, an attempt has been made to cover diverse geographic regions and taxa (see Fig. 1 for a summary). The combined geographic range of the araneomorph and mygalomorph spiders covered in this issue includes all continents except Antarctica, which is

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Dr Pierre Escoubas for valuable discussions and the US National Science Foundation for continued financial support. I would also like to express my appreciation to the many talented graduate students who have contributed to my lab's research on spider venoms.

References (16)

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