What is the biggest spider on earth

The Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi) belongs to the tarantula family Theraphosidae. Found in northern South America, it is the largest spider in the world by mass (175 g (6.2 oz)) and body length (up to 13 cm (5.1 in)), and second to the giant huntsman spider by leg span.[1] It is also called the Goliath tarantula or Goliath bird-eating spider; the practice of calling theraphosids "bird-eating" derives from an early 18th-century copper engraving by Maria Sibylla Merian that shows one eating a hummingbird. Despite the spider's name, it rarely preys on birds.[2]

Physical description[edit]

The Goliath birdeater found in South America

These spiders can have a leg span up to 30 cm (12 in),[3] a body length of up to 13 cm (5.1 in) and can weigh up to 175 g (6.2 oz).[4] Birdeaters are one of the few tarantula species that lack tibial spurs, located on the first pair of legs of most adult males. They are mostly tan to light brown and golden-hued.[citation needed]

Lifecycle[edit]

Unlike other species of spider/tarantula, females do not eat the males during mating. Females mature in 3–6 years and have an average lifespan of 15 to 25 years. Males die soon after maturity and have a lifespan of three to six years. Colors range from dark to light brown with faint markings on the legs. Bird-eaters have hair on their bodies, abdomens, and legs. The female lays 100 to 200 eggs, which hatch into spiderling within 6–8 weeks.[5][6]

Behaviour[edit]

Defenses[edit]

In response to threats, Goliath birdeaters stridulate by rubbing setae on their pedipalps and legs.[7][8] Also, when threatened they rub their abdomen with their hind legs and release hairs that are a severe irritant to the skin and mucous membranes. These urticating hairs can be harmful to humans.[8]

Like all tarantulas, T. blondi spiders have fangs large enough (2–4 cm or 0.79–1.57 in) to break the skin of a human. They carry venom in their fangs and have been known to bite when threatened, but the venom is relatively harmless and its effects are comparable to those of a wasp's sting. Tarantulas generally bite humans only in self-defence, and these bites do not always result in envenomation (known as a "dry bite”).[citation needed]

Feeding[edit]

Despite its name, the Goliath birdeater only rarely actually preys on birds; in the wild, its diet consists primarily of other large arthropods, worms, and amphibians.[9] However, because of its size and opportunistic predatory behavior, this species commonly kills and consumes a variety of insects and small terrestrial vertebrates. They do not consume their prey in the open; rather, they drag it back to their burrow and begin the digesting process. They do this by liquifying the insides of their prey and proceed to suck it dry.[10] In the wild, T. blondi has been observed feeding on rodents, frogs, toads, lizards, and even snakes.[11]

Distribution and habitat[edit]

The Goliath birdeater is native to the upland rain forest regions of Northern South America: Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, northern Brazil, and southern Venezuela. Most noticeable in the Amazon rainforest, the spider is terrestrial, living in deep burrows, and is found commonly in marshy or swampy areas. It is a nocturnal species.[12]

Goliath birdeater as food[edit]

The Goliath birdeater is an edible spider. The spider is part of the local cuisine in northeastern South America, prepared by singeing off the urticating hairs and roasting it in banana leaves. The flavor has been described as "shrimp-like".[13]

Common names of animals aren't known for their precision, and sometimes they're just plain misleading. For instance, a flying fox is just a big bat, ringworm is actually a fungal infection, jellyfish aren't fish, and sure, anteaters eat ants, but they consume more termites and other insect larvae than ants. The Goliath birdeater? Well, this spider is huge, but it doesn't eat birds often enough to warrant the name.

But at least half of the Goliath birdeater's name is accurate — it's a real giant: the largest and heaviest spider in the world. Native to northern South America, this rainforest tarantula weighs about as much as a hockey puck and has a body length comparable to a mid-sized smartphone — not to mention a leg span of about 12 inches (30 centimeters). They are truly gigantic, but relatively harmless to humans. Even though they have long fangs that can pierce human skin, their venom isn't particularly toxic to us, or indeed to many would-be rainforest foes.

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Which is why the Goliath birdeater has a different tactic for shooing away would-be predators: hair missiles. When threatened by a snake or curious mammal, they rub their back legs against their abdomen, releasing missile-like hairs that cause extreme irritation to skin (in the case of humans, who are relatively hairless compared to other animals), eyes and other mucus membranes. The rubbing of their legs against these hairs is a warning in itself — it can be heard by humans and animals alike from up to 15 feet (4.6 meters) away. Called stridulation, it is the same behavior used by crickets and grasshoppers and crickets to make their chirping noises.

Although the Goliath birdeater has a reputation for munching on the feathered population, it rarely has the opportunity to eat a bird, though it probably wouldn't turn one down if it arose. Like other tarantula species, the birdeater doesn't make webs — they're forest floor hunters, going out alone to find insects, frogs, mice or lizards every night. When it finds something to eat — basically anything smaller than it is — it bites it with its long fangs and delivers a dose of neurotoxin that incapacitates the animal so the spider can drag it back to its burrow, because the rest of the process is too gross to complete in public. Once at home, the Goliath birdeater lets the neurotoxin do its work, liquifying the animal's insides. Once that's been accomplished, it sucks out all the juices. Yummy.

Goliath birdeaters are prized in the exotic pet industry and are surprisingly long-lived. The males can live between three and six years in captivity while the females can live up to 20 years.

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