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Updated: Jul 29, 2025

Harvesting Venom Toxins from Assassin Bugs and Other Heteropteran Insects
Published on: April 21, 2018
Ant venoms contain vertebrate-selective pain-causing sodium channel toxins
Samuel D Robinson1, Jennifer R Deuis2, Axel Touchard3,4
1Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. sam.robinson@uq.edu.au.
Abstract:
Stings of certain ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) can cause intense, long-lasting nociception. Here we show that the major contributors to these symptoms are venom peptides that modulate the activity of voltage-gated sodium (NaV) channels, reducing their voltage threshold for activation and inhibiting channel inactivation. These peptide toxins are likely vertebrate-selective, consistent with a primarily defensive function. They emerged early in the Formicidae lineage and may have been a pivotal factor in the expansion of ants.
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