Goliath Bird Eating Spider
The world's largest known spider is a male goliath bird-eating spider (Theraphosa blondi) collected by members of the Pablo San Martin Expedition at Rio Cavro, Venezuela in April 1965. It had a record leg-span of 28 cm (11 in) - sufficient to cover a dinner plate. This species is found in the coastal rainforests of Surinam, Guyana and French Guiana, but isolated specimens have also been reported from Venezuela and Brazil.
A two year old spider of the same species, bred by Robert Bustard and reared by Brian Burnett of Alyth, Perthshire also had a leg span of 28 cm (11 in) and weighed 170 g (6 oz) in February 1998.
The Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi) is an arachnid, or spider, belonging to the tarantula family, Theraphosidae. It is considered to be the second largest spider in the world (by leg-span, it is second to the giant huntsman spider), and it may be the largest by mass. Also called the Goliath bird-eating spider, it gets its name from reports of explorers from the Victorian era, who witnessed one eating a hummingbird.
Body length: 280 mm, Weight: 50 g, lifespan: 10 years, discovered: 1804.
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