Venom used for defense, overwhelming and digesting prey in two Reduviid assassin bugs, Platymeris biguttatus and Psytalla horrida

Heteroptera form a diverse group of phytophagous, hematophagous, and zoophagous species. The shift to zoophagy can be traced back to the transformation of salivary glands into venom glands and venoms function not only includes prey killing but also immobilization and digestion. In this study, we used an integrated transcriptomic/proteomic approach to analyze the composition of venoms from the anterior main glands (AMG) and posterior main glands (PMG) of the reduviid bugs Platymeris biguttatus L. and Psytalla horrida Stål. In both species, AMG and PMG secreted different proteins with only minor species-specific differences.