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Lydia J. Borjon, PhD

@lydiaborjon.bsky.social

61 followers 54 following 6 posts

Assistant Scientist at Indiana University. Neurobiologist studying sensory systems in insects. lydiaborjon.com

Posts Replies Media

Reposted by Lydia J. Borjon, PhD

Dan Tracey @hoosierflyman.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Nice coverage of our work phys.org/news/2025-01...

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Reposted by Lydia J. Borjon, PhD

Dan Tracey @hoosierflyman.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Another news story about our work!! www.newscientist.com/article/2462...

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Lydia J. Borjon, PhD @lydiaborjon.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Thank you!

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Reposted by Lydia J. Borjon, PhD

Dan Tracey @hoosierflyman.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Nice story about our most recent work ! www.sciencenews.org/article/velv...

sciencenews.org

Velvet ants have the Swiss Army knife of venoms

A velvet ant bite like “hot oil from the deep fryer” delivers an array of peptides that inflicts pain on insects and mammals alike.

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Lydia J. Borjon, PhD @lydiaborjon.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Instead, defense against insects seems to be a more important. We tested if a velvet ant could defend itself against a formidable praying mantis. In multiple battles, the praying mantis tried to eat the velvet ant, but the velvet ant always managed to sting and escape. 5/5

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Lydia J. Borjon, PhD @lydiaborjon.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

But then! Surprise! The peptide was not painful at all to mice! Other peptides, which are much weaker in larvae, caused pain in mice. Although we expected the simplest solution, that the pain-causing mechanism would be the same in mammals and insects, this was not the case. 4/5

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Lydia J. Borjon, PhD @lydiaborjon.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

We were also able to pinpoint the venom peptide (Do6a) that activates this receptor. Not only is the peptide responsible for the strong activation of pain-sensing neurons, it is also the most abundant peptide in the venom. Now we thought we had it all figured out. 3/5

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Lydia J. Borjon, PhD @lydiaborjon.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Like humans, larvae have neurons that respond to painful things. These neurons responded very strongly to velvet ant venom. Using genetic tricks, we identified a receptor that causes this strong activation (it turned out to be one of @hoosierflyman.bsky.social's favorites, Pickpocket). 2/5

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Lydia J. Borjon, PhD @lydiaborjon.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Our paper on Velvet Ant venom is out at @currentbiology.bsky.social “Multiple mechanisms of action for an extremely painful venom” sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Velvet ants are among the most painful of all stinging insects. What makes them so painful? We used fruit fly larvae to find out 🧐 1/5

sciencedirect.com

Multiple mechanisms of action for an extremely painful venom

Evolutionary arms races can lead to extremely specific and effective defense mechanisms, including venoms that deter predators by targeting nociceptiv…

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