We all get scared when we think about spiders, no matter how old we are. But some people don’t have as much fear. But most people worldwide have arachnophobia, which is a strong fear of spiders.
Most spiders are not bad creatures. But even though they don’t bite (except to scare), their many legs are scary enough for the normal person to be afraid of them. Imagine that a spider the size of an adult’s hand comes up to you. This is not the kind of spider you usually see. We know what you’re going through.
But spiders today are more dangerous than the usual ones we see every day.
So, do you want to know about the biggest spider in the world?
When looking for the biggest spider in the world, you first look at how big its body is. But did you know that’s not all there is to it?
A spider is usually considered big if it is heavy or has a long body. If that’s the case, the Goliath Birdeater is the biggest spider in the world based on how much it weighs. But the huge huntsman spider is the largest spider in terms of length and size.
Even so, the Goliath Birdeater has become the biggest spider in the world because of its huge size, weight, and leg length. Above all, there is no way to measure how scary it is to be there!
The formal name for this giant bird-eater is Theraphosa blondi. Tarantulas are hairy spiders that are in the family Theraphosidae. They are the biggest spiders in the world right now. live mostly in jungles.
This spider has a body length of 13 cm (5 in), weighs 170 g (6 oz), and has legs that are about 30 cm (12 in) long. But, despite its name, the Goliath Birdeater doesn’t usually eat birds. But this means that the spider is big enough to feed a whole bird. It’s really cool, isn’t it?
In addition to being big, they have colourful hair all over their bodies. Most of them are dark brown, light brown, or yellow in colour. They have eight legs, but unlike most spiders, they don’t have eyes.
Do you think that this Goliath bird-eater’s eyesight is bad, even though it has eight eyes? They can only feel changes in their environment through the hair on their bodies.
Also, these hunters have two furry extensions on either side of their heads. These are called pedipalps. The teeth on their bodies are two inches long. The pedipalp helps catch the prey, and the poison from the teeth kills it.
But to avoid their eyes, you must know where they live. The most usual place for a spider to live is in a beautiful web, but a goliath birdeater does the exact opposite.
Goliath birdeaters are often found in the swamps of North and South American jungles, like the Amazon. The jungles of Suriname, Guyana, Brazil, and Venezuela are home to these animals. They like to live in deep, hidden burrows.
Also, because they are nocturnal, they don’t mind spending their days in well-hidden dens and coming out at night.
But the male Goliath Birdeater dies soon after the first time he mates, so they only live for about three to six years. But a female Goliath birdeater might live ten to fifteen years longer if she is lucky. People can sometimes live for as long as twenty-five years.
It’s really interesting to see how these animals make more of their own kind.
Before a female birdeater can mate, she has to go through moulting, which is an important part of her growth and life cycle.
Snakes lose their skin during a process called “moulting.” While getting ready to mate, a goliath birdeater loses its old shell and grows a new, bigger one.
If the female doesn’t poop before mating, she will lose all of the sperm she has stored when she moults again.
Second, they find someone to go with. When both birds are ready to mate, the male birdeater goes to the female’s home to try to get her to mate with him. Then they get together to make babies.
The third thing they do is lay the eggs. Once the mating is successful, the female goliath birdeater makes a silk web where she can lay between 100 and 200 eggs at once. As soon as the eggs fall out of the female’s body, they are fertilised.
This normally takes between six and eight weeks, after which the eggs hatch into chicks. About two to three years pass before these spiderlings are fully grown.
These spiders are not in danger in the wild, but their fragile bodies make them more exposed when they can’t move.
When the hairs around their mouths are rubbed together, the goliath bird eaters make a strange sound. (It can be very scary!). They usually do this to scare away any larger animals that might be a danger. In other words, to scare away their enemies.
Also, their two tusks have venom glands that can release poison if they are in grave danger. This poisonous sting is enough to kill a small mammal and make bigger mammals swell up and feel sick.
Toxins are hard to make and take a long time to make, so they don’t use this defense very often. They only use it when they are hunting.
These spiders like to eat other animals, like frogs, small snakes, insects, lizards, bats, and mice. Even young birds, which are easy to eat, can be fed to them.
Most of the time, a spider builds a web to catch its food and eat it. But that’s not the case with these huge animals, because they don’t have a special way to hunt or catch their food.
The most shocking thing is that they don’t have teeth to eat with. Doesn’t that sound kind of strange? But goliath birdeaters can break down skin tissue and release digestive juices into their target so they can drink the tasty liquid and use it as food.
No matter how big a spider is, people shouldn’t be too scared of them. If you think this animal’s poisonous bite can kill you, we can promise it won’t.
This is because their drug doesn’t hurt people very much. Most of the time, its poison feels like a wasp sting.
Have you heard? People living in northeastern South America think a goliath birdeater is a tasty treat. They cut off the hairs on the spider’s body that cause it to sting, wrap it in banana leaves to make it safe, and then roast it. They eat next. Even though we don’t like it, the people who live there say it’s really tasty. They say it has a prawn flavour.
Even though this spider is the biggest in the world right now, it is not the biggest bug. Even bigger spiders than the goliath birdeater existed. But because the world has changed, that may no longer be true.
The Goliath Birdeater Spider Man has become a big threat to wildlife reserves. So, big dangerous animals can live on Earth for a long time if people control where they live and how they hunt.
You may have learned many new things about the Goliath birdeater. So don’t forget to tell your friends and family about it!