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The praying mantis (Mantodea) as predator of the poisonous red-spotted newt Notophthalmus viridescens (Amphibia: Urodela: Salamandridae)

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Abstract

A Chinese praying mantis, Tenodera sinensis, was observed feeding on a living red-spotted newt, Notophthalmus viridescens. Specimens of that newt’s population are known to contain high concentrations of tetrodotoxin (TTX), a specific blocker of voltage-gated sodium channels. After experimental oral administration of a TTX-solution (1 mg/ml) to adult specimens of four mantis species, all survived high TTX concentrations (up to 30.8 μg/g body mass) as revealed by analysis of their body extracts, but they are rapidly killed by intra-abdominal injection of 1 μg TTX. The toxin was found to be gradually excreted with faeces. As demonstrated by monoclonal antibody-based immunohistochemical technique, TTX does not penetrate the mid-gut membrane, since it was localized only in the gut lumen, but not in the epithelial cells. This prevents the toxin to reach its target, the sodium channels of the insect’s nervous system, and enables the mantids to feed on toxic prey without risking poisoning.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Robert S. Mulvihill, National Aviary, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, for making his observation and photos available. Chrstine Elbert performed excellent immunohistochemical work. This work was partially supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) no. 26292057 to M.Y.Y.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Frankfurt, Kennedyallee 104, 60596, Frankfurt, Germany

    Dietrich Mebs

  2. Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, 1-1 Tsutsumidori-Amamiyamachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 981-8555, Japan

    Mari Yotsu-Yamashita

  3. Graduate School of Fisheries Science and Environmental Sciences, Nagasaki University, 1-14, Bunkyo-machi, Nagasaki, 852-8521, Japan

    Osamu Arakawa

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  1. Dietrich Mebs
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  2. Mari Yotsu-Yamashita
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  3. Osamu Arakawa
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Correspondence to Dietrich Mebs.

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Mebs, D., Yotsu-Yamashita, M. & Arakawa, O. The praying mantis (Mantodea) as predator of the poisonous red-spotted newt Notophthalmus viridescens (Amphibia: Urodela: Salamandridae). Chemoecology 26, 121–126 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-016-0211-3

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