''Brachypelma klaasi'' (also known as the Mexican pink tarantula) is a

tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,040 species have been identified, with 156 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...

endemic to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and it is the rarest of the genus ''

Brachypelma ''Brachypelma'' is a genus of spiders in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas). They may have bodies up to long with legs of similar or greater lengths. Some species have brightly colored legs, with red or orange marks and rings. The taxonomy ...

''.

Appearance

The

setae In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. Th ...

of this species have a uniformly rusty appearance. The coloration is very similar to that of the six species of ''

'' that are endemic to the west coast. '' B. boehmei'' is similar, having black tarsi, orange-yellow metatarsi, tibias and patellas, black femora and coxae and orange-yellow hairs on the opistosoma. It differs only in the carapace, which is yellow-orange in ''B. boehmei'' and black in ''B. klaasi''. Another very similar species is '' B. baumgarteni''. Adults of ''B. klaasi'' have a body length of about 6–7.5 cm with a 16 cm legspan.

Distribution

''B. klaasi'' is found at elevations of 300–1400 m above sea level on the western slopes of the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American C ...

and some areas on the western limits of the

Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt ( es, Eje Volcánico Transversal), also known as the Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the (''Snowy Mountain Range''), is an active volcanic belt that covers central-southern Mexico. Several of its highest peaks h ...

in Jalisco and Nayarit states. Its known range extends from

Tepic Tepic () is the capital and largest city of the western Mexican state of Nayarit, as well as the seat of the Tepic Municipality. Located in the central part of the state, it stands at an altitude of above sea level, on the banks of the Río Mo ...

, Nayarit, in the north to

Chamela Chamela is a small town in the state of Jalisco, on the west coast of Mexico. The town of Chamela sits on the south end of a bay called the ''Bahía de Chamela,'' or "Chamela Bay", on Federal Highway 200. San Mateo and Punta Pérula are the two ...

, Jalisco, in the south, with the largest known population at the biological reserve at Chamela.

Conservation

There is a high rate of collection for the pet trade of ''B. klaasi'' and other members of the genus ''Brachypelma''. As such, all members of ''Brachypelma'' have been placed on Appendix II of

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

. ''B. klaasi'' is considered to be the rarest and most threatened of the Mexican tarantula species. Their slow growth, combined with

habitat degradation Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and illegal wild capture for the pet trade means that it is estimated that less than 0.1% of individual tarantulas survive from egg to adulthood in the wild. Temperature and humidity may influence the survival and development of eggs and spiderlings, and appear to be more important in governing the distribution of ''B. klaasi'' than are food resources or intra-specific interactions.

References

External links

* (Photographs taken in the wild.)
Pictures of female and male
Theraphosidae Endemic spiders of Mexico Spiders described in 1994 {{Theraphosidae-stub

Appearance

Distribution

Conservation

References

Further reading

External links