A case of zootherapy with the tarantula Brachypelma vagans Ausserer, 1875 in traditional medicine of the Chol Mayan ethnic group in Mexico

This study was carried out in different Chol communities in the states of Chiapas and Campeche (southeastern Mexico) from 2003 until 2007. We interviewed the local medicine men, patients and non-Chol people in each village visited to collect information about the rituals involved and the effectiveness of this traditional medicine and also their opinion of this traditional medicine.In all independent villages, the people who present an illness called 'aire de tarantula' or tarantula wind with symptoms including chest pain, coughing and asthma, were treated by the medicine man (called 'hierbatero') with a tarantula-based beverage. From village to village, the beverage has a similar base composition but some variations occur in additional ingredients depending on the individual medicine man. Like in all traditional Mayan medicine, the ritual of the ceremony consists of drinking the tarantula-based beverage and this is principally accompanied by chants and burning of incense.The recipe of the tarantula-based beverage and the procedure of this ritual ceremony were fairly constant in all the villages visited. Our work shows that despite the tarantula's bad image in several cultures, in others positive use is made of these spiders, as in modern medicine.The use of plants, animals, mineral substances and other natural materials in traditional medicine by indigenous peoples, throughout the world and across time, is a well documented practice. Although plants and plant-derived materials constitute the principal source of ingredients for traditional medicine, the identification of animal resources for medical cures is also important [1,2].Animal-based medicines can be prepared from the entire animal, from parts of the animal's body, from products of its metabolism (body secretions and excrement), or from other materials related to animals (nests and cocoons) [3]. The practice that uses animal or animal-derived products in human healing is known as zootherapy [3], according to