In a finding that could be defined as the animal discovery of the century, a group of researchers recorded something unusual in the Ecuadorian jungle: a giant tarantula devouring a venomous snake.
This event, which occurred in the Ateles Reserve in Manabí, represents the first global record of a spider from the Pamphobeteus genus hunting a snake.
The astonishing event was observed on the night of July 18, 2024, at 11:45 PM, during a survey of amphibians and reptiles.
At the entrance of a burrow, scientists noticed how a tarantula Pamphobeteus sp was feeding on a juvenile Bothrops asper, a snake commonly known as terciopelo in Latin America.
The snake, of small size, showed signs of paralysis in the front part of its body, possibly due to venom or wounds inflicted by the spider. Subsequently, both animals were collected for precise identification in a laboratory.
Under controlled conditions, the tarantula continued feeding on the snake for more than 24 hours, thus completing a cycle of predation almost entirely documented by the researchers.
The Bothrops asper, widely distributed from Mexico to the northwest of South America, is a venomous snake known for its role in the ecological chain, as it feeds on small mammals and other vertebrates. In Ecuador, it inhabits various ecosystems, including forests and cultivated areas.
On the other hand, tarantulas of the Pamphobeteus genus are large arachnids with dark coloration, found in regions of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
These spiders often dig burrows and are capable of capturing a variety of prey, from insects to small vertebrates.
This event highlights that even a predator as feared as the terciopelo snake can fall prey to a skilled arachnid hunter.
These findings suggest that there is still much to discover about the complex trophic interactions in tropical ecosystems.
The study, published in the Revista Latinoamericana de Herpetología, urges the scientific community to further investigate these interactions to understand the impacts of biodiversity loss.
Each lost species means a break in the food chain and an imbalance that we are only beginning to understand.
