The World´s Largest Spider

The Goliath Bird Eating Spider, also known as the Goliath Bird-eater (Theraphosa blondi), often receives the title of the world’s largest spider - it is an arachnid which belongs to the tarantula family. In spite of its curious name, the Goliath bird-eater rarely eats birds, but instead it eats invertebrates such as crickets, beetles and beetle larvae. However, the Goliath bird-eater can and will eat anything smaller than itself such as mice, frogs, small snakes, beetles, lizards, and even bats.

Native to the region of the tropical forests in Northern South America, these spiders can be as huge as 12 inches (30 cm) in leg span, when their legs are stretched out, and can weigh as much as 6 ounces (170 gr). Now that’s what I call a BIG spider! Like all spiders, these enormous tarantulas are arthropods and must shed their skin often in order to grow. The Goliath bird-eater has poor eyesight and generally relies on vibrations in the ground that it can sense from its burrow. They don’t have any special techniques, such as building webs for hunting their prey. They just sneak up on their prey and pounce on the unwary victim, inflicting a lethal bite with venomous fangs. One interesting feature of the Goliath bird-eater spider, as well as a few other tarantula species, is their capacity to make noise. When threatened, the goliath bird-eater is capable of making quite a loud hissing noise called stridulation, which is produced when the spider rubs bristles on its legs together.

The Goliath bird-eater spiders are relatively harmless to humans, as are nearly all species of tarantulas. They carry venom in their large fangs (0.75 to 1½ inches - 1.9 cm to 3.81 cm) which is relatively non-toxic, and have been known to bite humans only when threatened. The venom causes swelling and mild pain for a few hours, like a wasp sting. Problems will take place though if the person is allergic to spiders or if the wound turns into an infection. The bites to humans are usually in self defense and don´t always contain spider venom – what is known as a “dry byte”. Also when threatened, they have the ability to shoot urictating hairs towards their perceived attacker. These tiny, almost invisible hairs can be tremendously irritating to the skin and can cause serious problems if they get into delicate mucous membranes around eyes and mouth.

There is something about spiders that gives most people the creeps, but come to think of it, they are just as amazing as any other creature on earth. These creatures are sometimes kept as pets, despite its aggressive nature, willingness to bite and irritating hairs. But on the other hand, believe it or not, there are people in South America that collects Goliath bird-eater tarantulas and roasts them over hot coals, they consider spiders a good source of protein!!! No comments....