ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2017
Changes in predator exposure, but not in diet, induce phenotypic plasticity in scorpion venom.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Scorpionism at the human-environment interface: an eco-epidemiological synthesis and conceptual framework.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Venom mass fingerprints for species delimitation, reloaded: A test case with Italian scorpions (Toxicon: X · 2026Article
- Exploratory proteomic characterization ofFrontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Glandular quinoline-derivates protect crustacean woodlice from spider predation.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
- Article
- Divergent venom effectors correlate with ecological niche in neuropteran predators.Communications biology · 2024Article
- Study of the Acute Toxicity of ScorpionTheScientificWorldJournal · 2024Article
- Intersexual Differences in the Gene Expression ofToxins · 2023Article
- Implications of bleaching on cnidarian venom ecology.Toxicon: X · 2022Review
- Beyond spider personality: The relationships between behavioral, physiological, and environmental factors.Ecology and evolution · 2021Review
- Article
- Armed stem to stinger: a review of the ecological roles of scorpion weapons.The journal of venomous animals and toxins including tropical diseases · 2021Review
- Variation in venom composition in the Australian funnel-web spidersToxicon: X · 2020Article
- Small Molecules in the Venom of the ScorpionBiomedicines · 2020Article
- Australian ScorpionBiomolecules · 2020Article
- Reciprocal transplantation of the heterotrophic coralEcology and evolution · 2020Article
- Article
- Review
- Changes in predator exposure, but not in diet, induce phenotypic plasticity in scorpion venom.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Animals embedded between trophic levels must simultaneously balance pressures to deter predators and acquire resources. Venomous animals may use venom toxins to mediate both pressures, and thus changes in this balance may alter the composition of venoms. Basic theory suggests that greater exposure to a predator should induce a larger proportion of defensive venom components relative to offensive venom components, while increases in arms races with prey will elicit the reverse. Alternatively, reducing the need for venom expenditure for food acquisition, for example because of an increase in scavenging, may reduce the production of offensive venom components. Here, we investigated changes in scorpion venom composition using a mesocosm experiment where we manipulated scorpions' exposure to a surrogate vertebrate predator and live and dead prey. After six weeks, scorpions exposed to surrogate predators exhibited significantly different venom chemistry compared with naive scorpions. This change included a relative increase in some compounds toxic to vertebrate cells and a relative decrease in some compounds effective against their invertebrate prey. Our findings provide, to our knowledge, the first evidence for adaptive plasticity in venom composition. These changes in venom composition may increase the stability of food webs involving venomous animals.
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