Velvet ants inject venom through their abdomen and sting.
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The bite of a female velvet ant is one of the most painful in the animal kingdom. Now, researchers have shown that the venoms of these insects contain multiple proteins that make them highly effective against a wide range of victims, including invertebrates, mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. I discovered it.
Velvet ants are actually members of the wingless wasp family, of which there are over 7,000 species. Justin Schmidt, the researcher who created the Schmidt Sting Index, described the pain of a sting as “explosive and long-lasting, making you scream and feel like you’re going crazy. Hot oil from a deep fryer spills all over your hand.” .”
When I looked into what was causing so much pain, Dan Tracy Researchers at Indiana University urged the public to carefully collect female scarlet velvet ants.Dasimtyla occidentalis) from the Indiana and Kentucky sites.
They tested fruit fly venom (Drosophila melanogaster),mouse(Mus musculus) and praying mantis (tenodera sinensis), potential predators of velvet ants.
One of the peptides the research team isolated from the venom, Do6a, clearly caused a response in the insects, but surprisingly not in the mice.
“That means the venom has evolved to include components that specifically target pain-sensing neurons in insects, and other components that target mammals,” Tracy says.
The researchers further tested this by having praying mantises attempt to capture velvet ants.
“We found that velvet ants are constantly stinging praying mantises in self-defense to escape their clutches,” Tracy says.
However, when tested with other peptides isolated from velvet ant venom, called Do10a and Do13a, the mice showed a strong pain response.
After discovering the peptide that activated neurons, the researchers compared the venom peptide sequences of four other species of velvet ants.
“They all have nearly the same version of the peptide that strongly activates the insect’s pain-sensing neurons.” Lydia Boljonteam members at Indiana University. “There are also some peptides that are similar to common neuron activators, but with some differences. Therefore, pain may be triggered in a similar way in other velvet ant species.”
This research could help develop new pain treatments for humans, Borjon said.
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Source: www.newscientist.com
