{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,31]],"date-time":"2026-10-31T02:35:31Z","timestamp":1793414131150,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,29]],"date-time":"2020-10-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1603929600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Toxins"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Alkaloids are important metabolites found across a variety of organisms with diverse ecological functions. Of particular interest are alkaloids found in ants, organisms well known for dominating the ecosystems they dwell in. Within ants, alkaloids are found in venom and function as potent weapons against heterospecific species. However, research is often limited to pest species or species with parasitic lifestyles and thus fails to address the broader ecological function of ant venom alkaloids. Here we describe a new species of free-living Megalomyrmex ant: Megalomyrmex peetersi sp. n. In addition, we identify its singular venom alkaloid (trans-2-butyl-5-heptylpyrrolidine) and elucidate the antibiotic and insecticidal functions of its venom. Our results show that Megalomyrmex peetersi sp. n. venom is an effective antibiotic and insecticide. These results are comparable to venom alkaloids found in other ant species, such as Solenopsis invicta. This research provides great insight into venom alkaloid function, and it is the first study to explore these ideas in the Megalomyrmex system.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/toxins12110679","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,29]],"date-time":"2020-10-29T23:06:12Z","timestamp":1604012772000},"page":"679","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Venom Function of a New Species of Megalomyrmex Forel, 1885 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8313-8264","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kyle","family":"Sozanski","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1819-8767","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"L\u00edvia Pires do","family":"Prado","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Coordena\u00e7\u00e3o de Ci\u00eancias da Terra e Ecologia, Museu Paraense Em\u00edlio Goeldi 66077-830, PA, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrew J.","family":"Mularo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, Indiana, IN 47907, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9621-2387","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Victoria A.","family":"Sadowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8807-3017","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tappey H.","family":"Jones","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, Virginia Military Institute, Virgina, VA 24450, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0918-9861","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rachelle M. M.","family":"Adams","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA"},{"name":"Department of Entomology, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20560, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Aniszewski, T. (2015). Alkaloids: Chemistry, Biology, Ecology, and Applications, Elsevier. [2nd ed.].","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-444-59433-4.00002-X"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"617","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1469-8137.1994.tb02968.x","article-title":"Secondary metabolites in plant defence mechanisms","volume":"127","author":"Bennett","year":"1994","journal-title":"New Phytol."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yamamoto, I., and Casida, J.E. (1999). 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