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Brachypelma auratum. A-E, female CNAN-Ar007878. A, carapace, dorsal view; B, prosoma, ventral view; C, ocular tubercle, dorsal view; D, labial and maxillary cuspules; E, spermatheca, ventral view; F, spermatheca ventral view of: F, female SMF-58207. Scale = 10 mm (A-B), 2 mm (D), 1 mm (C, E, F).
Source publication
The tarantula genus Brachypelma includes colourful species that are highly sought after in the commercial pet trade. They are all included in CITES appendix II. We present phylogenetic analyses using molecular and morphological characters to revise Brachypelma, in which we include all currently known species. Our results agree with a previous study...
Citations
... Sandinista lanceolatum was recently removed from Aphonopelma genus by Longhorn and Gabriel (2019). Several species that were considered part of the genus Brachypelma have been recently transferred to the new genus Tliltocatl by Mendoza and Francke (2020). ...
Arachnids are a diverse group of arthropods, represented by well-known organisms like spiders, with 51,164 species described to date, and scorpions, with 2761 known species. These animals inhabit various regions worldwide and are highly diverse in Neotropical environments, where their ecological function is essential. In this chapter, we review the state of Arachnids’ decline and the factors contributing to this pattern in the Neotropics. These factors include their relationships with prey, human perception, and its consequences, and the direct threats posed by human-induced changes in land use or illegal animal trafficking. Finally, we discuss prospects for this group in the context of biodiversity decline. The future of arachnids is uncertain in a changing world; however, we need more studies in the context of decreasing biodiversity, encompassing all arachnid orders, which can be used to build up conservation policies and laws against the illegal trafficking of these organisms. We hope that this chapter will serve as a starting point to change the uncertain future of this group of arthropods in a rapidly changing world.
... Examples of such arthropods include ants, butterflies, large beetles, and arachnids, in particular tarantulas (Theraphosidae) and scorpions (Goka, 2022). Although the community of arthropod enthusiasts has existed for decades, little is known about the effects that the trade of such animals may impose on native populations (Tournant et al., 2012;Mendoza and Francke, 2016;Fukushima et al., 2019;Mendoza and Francke, 2020;Battiston et al., 2022). However, considering the growing consciousness about the biodiversity crisis, the first scientific explorations on the sustainability of the invertebrate trade are underway. ...
... Yet, whether or not there can be a continuous supply of wild-caught specimens also depends on national conservation approaches in the countries of origin. In Mexico, for example, Brachypelma species are protected by national law (Mendoza and Francke, 2020). The CITES data therefore imply that international regulations (in particular, as supplements to national conservation approaches) have the potential to shift the global arachnid trade toward captive-bred instead of wildcaught specimens, as exemplified in the case of the protected Brachypelma and Tliltocatl species, with their large offspring numbers. ...
Introduction
The global biodiversity crisis represents a major threat to humanity, with the worldwide animal trade being identified as a major driving force. Although vertebrate trade has been subject to intensified research, the extent of invertebrate trade remains understudied. Recent analyses of arachnids (i.e., spiders and scorpions) suggest that there is a large and still-expanding international market which has the potential to threaten natural populations. Whether or not captive breeding has the potential to decrease collection pressure on wild arachnid populations has not been investigated, nor have the temporal dynamics or the trade purposes of arachnids been examined.
Methods
We herein seek to broaden our understanding of these areas by analyzing arachnid import and export data from two major international wildlife trade databases (CITES and LEMIS).
Results
Historically, a large proportion of tarantulas and scorpions have been traded for the pet sector. Our analysis of the LEMIS data shows that imports of pet arachnids have declined by up to 55% in the past decade. Furthermore, an annual breakdown of US imports shows that at least 43% of specimens are not traded as pets but for other purposes, including research, souvenirs, and traditional medicine, with the souvenir sector experiencing an unprecedented growth. CITES data for protected tarantulas, but not scorpions, further indicate a shift toward trade with captive-bred specimens.
Discussion
These trends need to be considered in efforts to conserve natural populations. Coordinated captive breeding may represent a path toward increased sustainability by meeting the demand for traded arachnids and also providing an important resource for scientific research across disciplines.
... Much legal wildlife trade occurs domestically or within an economic block (e.g., EU), but is often under-regulated. Species are collected within the country and traded at local markets for various purposes including consumption, medicine, and pets (Harrington et al., 2020;Mendoza and Francke, 2020). Although some nations set annual quotas for domestic capture and trade (e.g., quotas for bushmeat), much of this trade, albeit legal, is undocumented. ...
Exploitation of wildlife represents one of the greatest threats to species survival according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Whilst detrimental impacts of illegal trade are well recognised, legal trade is often equated to being sustainable despite the lack of evidence or data in the majority of cases. We review the sustainability of wildlife trade, the adequacy of tools, safeguards, and frameworks to understand and regulate trade, and identify gaps in data that undermine our ability to truly understand the sustainability of trade. We provide 183 examples showing unsustainable trade in a broad range of taxonomic groups. In most cases, neither illegal nor legal trade are supported by rigorous evidence of sustainability, with the lack of data on export levels and population monitoring data precluding true assessments of species or population-level impacts. We propose a more precautionary approach to wildlife trade and monitoring that requires those who profit from trade to provide proof of sustainability. We then identify four core areas that must be strengthened to achieve this goal: (1) rigorous data collection and analyses of populations; (2) linking trade quotas to IUCN and international accords; (3) improved databases and compliance of trade; and (4) enhanced understanding of trade bans, market forces, and species substitutions. Enacting these core areas in regulatory frameworks, including CITES, is essential to the continued survival of many threatened species. There are no winners from unsustainable collection and trade: without sustainable management not only will species or populations become extinct, but communities dependent upon these species will lose livelihoods.
... However, these characters have never been tested with representatives of both subfamilies. Besides the keels, other structures found in genera of Theraphosinae are similar to those present in Schismatothele, such as: paraembolic apophysis present in all species of Cyriocosmus Simon, 1903 and some species of Hapalopus Ausserer, 1875 (Fukushima et al. 2005;Gabriel 2011); tegular apophyses, present in Brachypelma Simon, 1891, Cyriocosmus, Homoeomma Ausserer, 1871and Magnacarina Mendoza, Locht, Kaderka, Medina & Pérez-Miles, 2016(Bertani 2000Kaderka 2010;Mendoza et al. 2016;Mendoza & Francke 2020) and the VGP, similar to granular areas of Acanthoscurria Ausserer, 1871and Neischnocolus Petrunkevitch, 1925(Bertani 2000Pérez-Miles et al. 2008;Paula et al. 2014). In our perspective, it is not clear if the palpal keels and other structures present in some species of Schismatothele and other Schismatothelinae genera are homologous to those of Theraphosinae. ...
Seven new species of Schismatothele Karsch, 1879 (Araneae, Theraphosidae) are described, almost doubling the diversity of the genus: S. caeri sp. nov.; S. caiquetia sp. nov.; S. merida sp. nov.; S. moonenorum sp. nov.; S. quimbaya sp. nov.; S. timotocuica sp. nov. and S. wayana sp. nov. An identification key for all species of Schismatothele (except S. kastoni) is presented, as well as a complementary diagnosis for the genus. Also, a standardized nomenclature is proposed to describe the prolateral keels of male palpal bulbs of species of Schismatothele.
... WGS84; elevation 39 m), municipality of La Huerta, state of Jalisco (Mexico). The spider was later identified as an adult female Mexican Pink Tarantula Brachypelma klaasi (Schmidt & Krause, 1994) (Araneae: Theraphosidae) based on the location and overall morphology of the specimen (Schmidt and Krause, 1994;Mendoza and Francke, 2020). Quickly upon being discovered, the tarantula withdrew to its underground burrow with its prey, making collection of the specimens impossible; at the time of the sighting the toad was still alive. ...
Predation on the true toad Anaxytus mazatlanensis by the tarantula Brachypelma klaasi
... Tarantulas (Theraphosidae) are the largest and most colorful, long-lived spiders and are also the most popular spiders as exotic pets (Mendoza and Francke 2020;Pérez-Miles 2020). Tarantulas inhabit tropical and subtropical environments and can be found in caves or anthropogenic habitats too (West 2005;Rojo 2004;Mendoza 2014;Francke 2018, 2020). ...
... The genus Brachypelma (eight species) occurs only in Mexico, while Tliltocatl (seven species, originally in Eurypelma or Brachypelma and transferred recently by Mendoza and Francke 2020) is found in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Costa Rica. Species of these genera were categorized as endangered or threatened species at national and international levels because most species have limited geographic distribution, are sensitive to habitat loss, and are illegally collected and traded (Mendoza 2020;Mendoza and Francke 2020). ...
... Much legal wildlife trade occurs domestically or within an economic block (e.g., EU), but is often under-regulated. Species are collected within the country and traded at local markets for various purposes including consumption, medicine, and pets (Harrington et al., 2020;Mendoza and Francke, 2020). Although some nations set annual quotas for domestic capture and trade (e.g., quotas for bushmeat), much of this trade, albeit legal, is undocumented. ...
Exploitation of wildlife represents one of the greatest threats to species survival according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Whilst detrimental impacts of illegal trade are well recognised, legal trade is often equated to being sustainable despite the lack of evidence or data in the majority of cases. We review the sustainability of wildlife trade, the adequacy of tools, safeguards, and frameworks to understand and regulate trade, and identify gaps in data that undermine our ability to truly understand the sustainability of trade. We provide 183 examples showing unsustainable trade in a broad range of taxonomic groups. In most cases, neither illegal nor legal trade are supported by rigorous evidence of sustainability , with the lack of data on export levels and population monitoring data precluding true assessments of species or population-level impacts. We propose a more precautionary approach to wildlife trade and monitoring that requires those who profit from trade to provide proof of sustainability. We then identify four core areas that must be strengthened to achieve this goal: (1) rigorous data collection and analyses of populations; (2) linking trade quotas to IUCN and international accords; (3) improved databases and compliance of trade; and (4) enhanced understanding of trade bans, market forces, and species substitutions. Enacting these core areas in regulatory frameworks, including CITES, is essential to the continued survival of many threatened species. There are no winners from unsustainable collection and trade: without sustainable management not only will species or populations become extinct, but communities dependent upon these species will lose livelihoods.
... Eight morphologically and genetically delimited species of the tarantula genus Brachypelma Simon, 1891 occur across the distribution of Acanthophrynus (Mendoza & Francke, 2020). Recent genetic studies on phrynid whip spiders of the genera Heterophrynus and Phrynus suggested large pairwise genetic distances may reflect previously unrecognized cryptic diversity (Esposito et al., 2015;Reveillion et al., 2020). ...
... The different timing of divergence observed in the northern and southern clades of Acanthophrynus suggest that, whereas climatic fluctuations may have driven further diversification in the Balsas Depression, the more severe fluctuations in the northern part of the distribution may have hindered dispersal and/or resulted in extinction, ultimately limiting the spatiotemporal opportunity for diversification. The relatively broad distributions of populations belonging to the same clade or species of other codistributed vertebrate and arthropod taxa in the SDF Ecoregion suggest that later diversification in the north is a general pattern (Mendoza & Francke, 2020;Suárez-Atilano et al., 2014;Zarza et al., 2008). Remarkably, this pattern mirrors the latitudinal gradient of biodiversity, according to which differential spatiotemporal opportunity between tropical and temperate biomes accounts for increased biodiversity in the tropics (Fine & Ree, 2006;Wiens & Donoghue, 2004). ...
... Although closely related to the pale populations, the dark populations of the SDF Ecoregion formed a separate clade. Colouration is an important character in the species delimitation and diagnosis of Brachypelma tarantulas(Mendoza & Francke, 2020), codistributed with Acanthophrynus. The geographical boundary between two distinctly coloured Brachypelma species, near the border between the states of Jalisco and Nayarit, resembles the boundary between the dark and pale populations of Acanthophrynus. ...
The tropics contain many of the most biodiverse regions on Earth but the processes responsible for generating this diversity remain poorly understood. This study investigated the drivers of diversification in arthropods with stenotopic ecological requirements and limited dispersal capability using as model the monotypic whip spider (Amblypygi) genus Acanthophrynus, widespread in the tropical deciduous forests of Mexico. We hypothesized that for these organisms, the tropical deciduous forests serve as a conduit for dispersal, with their disappearance imposing barriers. Given that these forests are located in a region of complex geological history and fluctuated in extent during the Pliocene-Pleistocene glacial/interglacial cycles we couple molecular clock dating, paleoclimatic niche modeling and ancestral area reconstruction to test if and how habitat fragmentation promoted diversification in Acanthophrynus. Concomitant with the expected role of landscape change, we demonstrate that orogeny of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, in the Late Miocene/Early Pliocene (6.95-5.21 mya), drove the earliest divergence of Acanthophrynus through vicariance. Similarly, as expected, the later onset of glaciations strongly impacted diversification. Whereas a more stable climate in the southern part of the distribution enabled further diversification, a marked loss of suitable habitat during the glaciations only allowed dispersal and diversification in the north to occur later, resulting in a lower overall diversity in this region. Importantly, barriers and diversification patterns identified in Acanthophrynus are reflected in the phylogeography of codistributed vertebrates and arthropods, emphasizing the profound impact of Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt orogeny and glacial/interglacial cycles as drivers of diversification in the Mexican Neotropics.
... Differs from Brachypelma by the coloration of legs, which are black or have long, whitish setae and by the morphology of genitalia. Seven species from Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica (Mendoza and Francke 2019). ...
Theraphosinae is the most diverse subfamily of tarantulas in the world, with more than 500 known species. The group is endemic to the New World and its geographic distribution ranges from Southern North America to temperate zones of South America. The largest and most long-lived spiders in the world belong to this subfamily. They inhabit almost all terrestrial environments from sea level up to 4500 m altitude. Beyond the morphological diagnostic characters of the subfamily, this group is also characterized by a singular mechanism of defense, employing abdominal urticating setae that they can release to the air when they are disturbed. For over a century, this subfamily remained poorly known from both biological and taxonomical aspects. In fact, most genera were established during the last few decades and several papers on behavior, ecology, and reproduction were published. Due to their size, longevity, sex dimorphism, relatively easy conditions for breeding, and other biological characteristics, this group constitutes an interesting model for studies on metabolism, thermoregulation, biomechanics, communication, reproduction, and development. This chapter will present an updated overview of the taxonomy and phylogeny of the group as well as a revision of recent scientific contributions in different fields of general biology.
... Tliltocatl Mendoza and Francke 2019. Differs from all other Theraphosinae genera (except Brachypelma) having claviform stridulating setae on the prolateral face of trochanter/femur I and retrolateral face trochanter of the palp. ...
Studying morphology of Theraphosidae spiders can be very challenging, especially if the main objective is assembling characters for systematics. Such spiders present a homogeneous morphology, which, according to some specialists, has driven the attention of systematists to other groups of Araneae. Nevertheless, a great diversity of cuticular structures has been overlooked until the widespread use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in the last years for theraphosids. Among all mygalomorphs, Theraphosidae spiders possess the greatest variety of cuticular features. Data regarding cuticular features are still incipient, but we have been gathering massive quantity of SEM images of all parts of the spider body, revealing interesting structures to be used in systematics and investigated for functional morphology. In addition to the well-known tarsal adhesive setae of theraphosids and the urticating setae of Theraphosinae, we found putative chemosensitive setae, a great variety of stridulating setae, distinct morphologies of leg and palpal structures, including cuticular projections, labial and maxillary cuspules, trichobothria, as well as other enigmatic features. In this chapter, we aim to present a comprehensive revision of cuticular features of New World Theraphosidae spiders, with descriptions and micrographs.
