Predation on Tropidurus semitaeniatus (Squamata: Tropiduridae) by Acanthoscurria natalensis (Aranea: Theraphosidae) in the semiarid Caatinga region of northeastern Brazil

of vertebrates such as amphibians, reptiles and small mammals (Mengak and Guynn, 1987; Sousa et al., 2010). Some studies have reported the effectiveness of this method (e.g. Greenberg, Neary and Harris, 1994; Cechin and Martins, 2000), while other studies have exposed problems (Crosswhite, Fox and Thill, 1999) including mortality of animals inside the traps (Enge, 2001) by desiccation (Jenkins, Mcgarigal and Gamble, 2003), predation by vertebrates (Ferguson et al., 2008) and by invertebrates (Bocchiglieri and Mendonca, 2010; Bocchiglieri, Mendonca and Motta, 2010; De-Carvalho et al., 2012). Numerous works have reported predation events involving invertebrate and herpetofauna especially in Neotropical regions (e.g. Formanowicz et al., 1981; Martins, Sazima and Egler, 1993; Duellman and Trueb, 1994; Del-Grande and Moura, 1997; Pombal Junior, 2007). Spiders are potential predators of a large number of small vertebrates, including herpetofauna (McCormick and Polis, 1982; Shear, 1986; Teixeira, Luigi and Scloemp, 1991), and predation of lizards by spiders has already been reported (Armas and Alayon, 1987; Armas, 2000; Bocchiglieri and Mendonca, 2010; Diniz, 2011; Vieira, Goncalves and Nobrega, 2012.). This short communication reports the first recorded event of the spider Acanthoscurria natalensis (Chamberlin, 1917) (Theraphosidae) preying on Tropidurus semitaeniatus (Spix, 1825) (Tropiduridae) in a pitfall trap in the semiarid region of northeastern Brazil, and the second lizard predation event by a spider inside a pitfall trap in Brazil. Herein we report the predation of a juvenile Tropidurus semitaeniatus (Squamata, Tropiduridae, 41.72 mm SVL, Fig. 1) by a spider, Acanthoscurria natalensis (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae). The observation occurred in a Caatinga area (xeric shrubland and thorn forest) in northeastern Brazil on January 25, 2013 (16:30) in Monumento Natural Grota do Angico (9°39’50”S, 37°40’57”W; 200 m above sea level; datum SAD-69) between the municipalities Poco Redondo and Caninde do Sao Francisco, Sergipe, Brazil. The lizard was predated inside the pitfall trap (Fig. 1) by the spider. The lizard is deposited in the Herpetological Collection of the Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil (accession number CHUFS C3149), and the spider was deposited in the Arachnids and Chilopoda Collection in the Instituto Butantan (accession number IBSP 163567). Tropidurus semitaeniatus Spix, 1825 is distributed in the states of Piaui and Bahia in northeastern Brazil, and is endemic to the Caatinga (Vanzolini, Ramos-Costa and Vitt, 1980; Ribeiro, 2010; Rodrigues, 2003; Daniel, Lima and Borges-Nojosa, 2011). Acanthoscurria natalensis Chamberlin, 1917 is distributed in the biomes of Caatinga and Cerrado in the states of Para, Maranhao, Piaui, Ceara, Rio Grande do Norte, Tocantins, Pernambuco, Paraiba, Mato Grosso, Bahia, Alagoas, Sergipe, Goias, and Minas Gerais (Mello-Leitao, C.F. de. 1926, Lucas et al., 2011). Acanthoscurria. natalensis Herpetology Notes, volume 7: 501-503 (2014) (published online on 25 August 2014)