♀ Acanthoscurria chacoana

[Theraphosid Research Team]

Acanthoscurria chacoana Brèthes, 1909, from central South America (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia). It is a medium-sized tarantula that prefers to live in the “Chaco” or the “Pantanal Matogrossense” in the “Cerrado” there, a savannah-like area of open vegetation that is not seasonally flooded. Typically for Acanthoscurria species, the animals rise up when disturbed and show their fangs to the intruder. If that doesn't help, the urticating hairs are used. This species is quite similar to Acanthoscurria theraphosoides (Doleschall, 1871), but has significantly longer and intensely red hairs on the abdomen. The stripes on the legs are not as distinct in A. chacoana as they are in A. theraphosoides. However, both species can be easily distinguished based on their taxonomic characters.