Goliath birdeater - wikipedia Goliath birdeater `` Bird - eating spider '' redirects here. Bird - eating spider may also refer to Eastern tarantula. Goliath birdeater Theraphosa blondi, adult female Conservation status Not evaluated ( IUCN 3.1 ) Scientific classification Kingdom : Animalia Phylum : Arthropoda Class : Arachnida Order : Araneae Suborder : Mygalomorphae Family : Theraphosidae Genus : Theraphosa Species : T. blondi Binomial name Theraphosa blondi ( Latreille, 1804 ) Synonyms T. blondii T. leblondii 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 and size, but it is second to the giant huntsman spider by leg - span. It is also called the 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 only rarely preys on birds. Contents 1 Habitat 2 Life cycle 3 Description 3.1 Defenses 4 Diet 5 References 6 External links Habitat 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 is 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. 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 `` shrimplike ''. Life cycle Unlike other species of spider / tarantula, females do not eat the males during mating. Females mature in 3 to 6 years and have an average life span of 15 to 25 years. Males die soon after maturity and have a lifespan of 3 to 6 years. Colors range from dark to light brown with faint markings on the legs. Birdeaters have hair on their bodies, abdomens, and legs. The female lays anywhere from 100 to 200 eggs, which hatch into spiderlings within six to eight weeks. Description The Goliath birdeater found in South America These spiders can have a leg span of up to 28 cm ( 11 in ), a body length of up to 11.9 cm ( 4.7 in ) and can weigh up to 175 g ( 6.2 oz ). Birdeaters are one of the few tarantula species that lack tibial spurs, located on the first pair of legs of most adult males. Defenses In response to threats, Goliath birdeaters stridulate by rubbing setae on their pedipalps and legs. 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. Like all tarantulas, T. blondi have fangs large enough to break the skin of a human ( 1.9 -- 3.8 cm or 0.75 -- 1.50 in ). 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 - defense, and these bites do not always result in envenomation ( known as a `` dry bite '' ). `` The spider has three lines of defense. By rubbing its legs against its abdomen, it produces a cloud of tiny, barbed hairs that get in the eyes and mucous membranes and cause extreme pain and itching for days. It has two - inch - long fangs strong enough to pierce a mouse 's skull. And it can make a hissing sound by rubbing its hairs together, which sounds like pulling Velcro apart. '' A captive adult female Diet Despite its name, it is rare for the Goliath birdeater to actually prey on birds ; in the wild, its diet consists primarily of other large arthropods, worms, and amphibians. However, because of its size and opportunistic predatory behavior, it is not uncommon for this species to kill and consume a variety of insects and small terrestrial vertebrates. In the wild, T. blondi has been observed feeding on rodents, frogs, toads, lizards, and even snakes. References Jump up ^ World 's biggest spider face - off - see which bug wins here Archived October 23, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Herzig, Volker ; King, Glenn F. ( 2013 ). `` The Neurotoxic Mode of Action of Venoms from the Spider Family Theraphosidae ''. In Nentwig, Wolfgang. Spider Ecophysiology. p. 203. ISBN 3642339891. Jump up ^ Striffler, Boris F. ( November 2005 ). `` Life history of Goliath Birdeaters -- Theraphosa apophysis and Theraphosa blondi ( Araneae, Theraphosidae, Theraphosinae ) '' ( PDF ). Journal of the British Tarantula Society. 21 ( 1 ). Retrieved 10 September 2013. Jump up ^ http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/10/20/biggest-spiders-animals-science-tarantulas-south-america/ Jump up ^ http://www.spidersworlds.com/goliath-bird-eater-spider/ Jump up ^ http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/goliath_bird_eating_spider.htm Jump up ^ Goliath Bird - Eating Spider, Arkive Jump up ^ Perez - Miles, Fernando ; Montes de Oca, Laura ; Postiglioni, Rodrigo ; Costa, Fernando G. ( December 2005 ). `` The stridulatory setae of Acanthoscurria suina ( Araneae, Theraphosidae ) and their possible role in sexual communication : an experimental approach ''. Iheringia, Serie Zoologia. 95 ( 4 ) : 365 -- 371. doi : 10.1590 / S0073 - 47212005000400004. Jump up ^ `` Goliath Birdeater : Images of a Colossal Spider ''. Live Science. Retrieved 2017 - 02 - 20. Jump up ^ Lewis, Tanya ( October 17, 2014 ). `` Goliath Encounter : Puppy - Sized Spider Surprises Scientist in Rainforest ''. LiveScience. Jump up ^ Menin, Marcelo ; Rodrigues, Domingos De Jesus ; de Azevedo, Clarissa Salette ( 2005 ). `` Predation on amphibians by spiders ( Arachnida, Araneae ) in the Neotropical region ''. Phyllomedusa. 4 ( 1 ) : 39 -- 47. doi : 10.11606 / issn. 2316 - 9079. v4i1p39 - 47. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Theraphosa blondi. Wikispecies has information related to Theraphosa blondi Caring for your Goliath Bird Eating Tarantula at the Wayback Machine ( archived October 31, 2013 ) Video of the Goliath birdeater at National Geographic The sound of little hooves in the night Taxon identifiers Wikidata : Q617000 Wikispecies : Theraphosa blondi ADW : Theraphosa_blondi ARKive : theraphosa - blondi EoL : 1182372 GBIF : 5170451 iNaturalist : 205163 IRMNG : 10838494 ITIS : 868632 NCBI : 260533 NZOR : 1f61ebb7 - 7b60 - 4272 - b3bd - 24ec0d088e08 uBio : 2103588 WSC : urn : lsid : nmbe.ch : spidersp : 002488 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Goliath_birdeater&oldid=865884763 '' Categories : Theraphosidae Spiders of South America Invertebrates of Brazil Arthropods of South America Fauna of French Guiana Fauna of Guyana Fauna of Suriname Invertebrates of Venezuela Fauna of the Amazon Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Articles with ' species ' microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Беларуская Català Cebuano Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español Esperanto فارسی Français Galego Italiano עברית Lietuvių Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk پنجابی Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Suomi Svenska తెలుగు Tiếng Việt Winaray 21 more Edit links This page was last edited on 26 October 2018, at 20 : 19 ( UTC ). 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Question: who is the largest spider in the world
Answer: The Goliath birdeater