World’s largest spider spotted in Guyana’s rainforest

Oct 22, 2014 News

Arachnophobes may want to steer clear of South American rainforests, where a Harvard University entomologist recently spotted the South American Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi), the world’s largest spider.

The world’s largest spider has been spotted in Guyana’s forests.

Piotr Naskrecki, a photographer and entomologist at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, was trekking through a rainforest in Guyana when he encountered the spider, which is roughly the size of a puppy.
According to Guinness World Records, the Goliath birdeater is the largest spider in the world, with a leg span up to 30 centimetres, or the size of a child’s forearm.
If the size of this colossal arachnid weren’t enough to spook arachnophobes, the sound it makes should be. “Its feet have hardened tips and claws that produce a very distinct, clicking sound, not unlike a horse’s hooves hitting the ground, but not as loud,” Naskrecki wrote on his blog.
Fortunately, the birdeater, which looks like a giant tarantula, does not pose a threat to humans. The spider’s venomous bite can do a great deal of damage to smaller mammals, but not to humans.
The bite, while not dangerous, would be painful. It would be “like driving a nail through your hand,” according to Naskrecki.
The spider’s sharp, 2-inch-long fangs aren’t its only defence mechanism, however. By rubbing its hind legs against its abdomen, the birdeater can emit a cloud of barbed hairs into the air. If the hairs get into the eyes, they can remain there for several days and cause itching and irritation.
The birdeater can also create a loud hissing sound by rubbing its front legs together to ward off potential enemies, a warning call that sounds “sort of like Velcro pulling apart,” said Naskrecki.
Even though this massive spider is named birdeater, it rarely feeds on birds. Because it does most of its hunting at night, it mostly feeds on earthworms, an abundant food source in Guyana’s humid nighttime climate.
That doesn’t mean other mammals are safe from the birdeater, however. Naskrecki explained that the birdeaters “will essentially attack anything that they encounter.”
According to Live Science, birdeaters are not common spiders. Naskrecki has been studying the tropics in South America for 10 to 15 years, yet he has only encountered the birdeater three times.
The last encounter with the birdeater has been fortunate for Naskrecki, who captured the spider and took it back to his lab to study. The spider is currently residing in a museum.

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