Grow Nanda B, Nekaris K A I
Nocturnal Primate Research Group, Oxford Brookes University, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Gibbs Building, Gipsy Lane, Oxford OX3 0BP, United Kingdom.
Division of Zoology, Research Center for Biology (LIPI), Jakarta-Bogor, Indonesia; Nocturnal Primate Research Group, Oxford Brookes University, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Gibbs Building, Gipsy Lane, Oxford OX3 0BP, United Kingdom.
Toxicon. 2015 Mar;95:1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2014.12.005. Epub 2014 Dec 18.
The venom produced by slow lorises (Nycticebus spp.) is toxic both intra- and inter-specifically. In this study we assessed the ecoparasite repellent properties of their venom. We tested venom from two Indonesian slow loris species: Nycticebus javanicus and Nycticebus coucang. Arthropods directly exposed to brachial gland secretions mixed with saliva from both species were immediately impaired or exhibited reduced activity (76%), and often died as a result (61%). We found no significant difference in the result of 60-min trials between N. coucang and N. javanicus [X(2)(1, n = 140) = 2.110, p = 0.3482]. We found evidence that the degree of lethality of the venom varies according to the arthropod taxa to which it is exposed. While most maggots (84%) were initially impaired from the venom after 10 min, maggots died after a 1 h trial 42% of the time. In contrast, at the end of 1 h trial, spiders died 78% of the time. For all arthropods, the average time to death from exposure was less than 25 min (M = 24.40, SD = 22.60). Ectoparasites including ticks, members of the arachnid order, are known to transmit pathogens to hosts and may be an intended target of the toxic secretions. Our results suggest that one function of slow loris venom is to repel parasites that affect their fitness, and that their topical anointing behaviour may be an adaptive response to ectoparasites.
懒猴（蜂猴属物种）产生的毒液在种内和种间均具有毒性。在本研究中，我们评估了其毒液对生态寄生虫的驱避特性。我们测试了两种印度尼西亚懒猴物种的毒液：爪哇懒猴和马来蜂猴。直接接触这两种懒猴混合了唾液的肱腺分泌物的节肢动物会立即受到损害或活动减少（76%），并且常常因此死亡（61%）。我们发现，在60分钟的试验结果中，马来蜂猴和爪哇懒猴之间没有显著差异[X(2)(1, n = 140) = 2.110, p = 0.3482]。我们发现有证据表明，毒液的致死程度会因所接触的节肢动物分类群而异。虽然大多数蛆虫（84%）在接触毒液10分钟后最初会受到损害，但在1小时的试验后，蛆虫有42%的时间会死亡。相比之下，在1小时试验结束时，蜘蛛的死亡率为78%。对于所有节肢动物来说，接触毒液后的平均死亡时间不到25分钟（M = 24.40，SD = 22.60）。包括蜱（蛛形纲成员）在内的体外寄生虫已知会将病原体传播给宿主，可能是有毒分泌物的目标。我们的结果表明，懒猴毒液的一个功能是驱赶影响其健康的寄生虫，并且它们的局部涂抹行为可能是对体外寄生虫的一种适应性反应。
