Plate 054 · leaving its burrow at dusk, after a cricket IdentificationFive marks on the plate
- 1Velvety carapace dark, with radiating grooves.
- 2Long-haired abdomen which carries the urticating hairs.
- 3Stout chelicerae with downward-pointing fangs.
- 4Thick, hairy legs, nearly black.
- 5Burrow with a silk collar in the soil.
Easily confused with TarantulaPlesiopelma longisternaleSmaller; also recorded in Tucumán. TarantulaCatumiri argentinenseMuch smaller. 054 / 100 · INVERTEBRATES · THERAPHOSIDAENOT EVALUATED Black Velvet Tarantula
Acanthoscurria musculosa
Tarántula negra · Tarantula
It is one of the most often recorded tarantulas in Tucumán, with sightings in the capital, Burruyacú and San Pedro de Colalao. It spends the day in a silk-lined burrow and comes out at dusk to ambush prey. It is shy; when threatened it flicks irritating hairs off its abdomen.
- Body
- c. 5 – 5.5 cm
- Range
- Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina
- Shelter
- silk-lined burrow
- Defence
- urticating hairs
- Nocturnal
- Burrower
- Urticating hairs
- Harmless to people
Altitude rangeFoothills and plains
Tucumán records (approx.) Provincial records come from the plains and the foot of the ranges, up to San Pedro de Colalao. The altitude limits are approximate.
FoodAn ambush hunter
- Crickets and cockroachesmain prey
- Beetlespassing by the burrow
- Other spidersoccasional
- Small vertebratesrare
It senses the vibrations of prey through the silk threads around the burrow entrance.
BehaviourPatient and shy
- Lives in a burrow. It digs or takes over a hole in the ground and lines it with silk.
- Out at night. It waits at the entrance and strikes at whatever passes close by.
- Urticating hairs. With its hind legs it scrapes its abdomen and releases hairs that irritate skin and eyes.
Where to look in Tucumán- San Pedro de Colalao
- Burruyacú
- San Miguel de Tucumán (alrededores)