Specimen Showcase｜Giant of the Spider World
- Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Our species today is a champion🏆 in its category as it is the heaviest and largest spider around. Not just in Hong Kong or Asia, but in the entire world! The Goliath birdeater🕷️, 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪, Latreille 1804, lives in the rainforests of northern South America, living in caves or burrows during the day🌞 and coming out to feed at night🌕. The Goliath birdeater can reach a foot span of 28 cm thanks to its eight legs and a body length of 11.9 cm, while it weighs 175 grams. Another surprising feat is their lifespan with females living for as long as 20 years; while males live a modest 3 to 6 years.
With such a giant spider, you may imagine a giant web🕸️ to catch its prey. Don’t be disappointed though as in fact, this species doesn't weave a web, like those observed in orb spiders for instance. They can still spin silk and webs and are quite good at it, but not in the way you might expect. The Goliath birdeater mainly lives in caves and burrows where it spreads a thick layer of spider webs on the ground like a soft cushion. This silky structure effectively helps it to remain protected from floods🌊. In addition, the silk also acts as a protective shell for hatching eggs. The female traps her eggs in its silk and turns them into a ball. The mother will then spread a lot of urticating hairs on the outside of the ball, presumably to prevent other bugs from infesting it. Even though its silk is not used for hunting, it has many extraordinary uses.
If they don't hunt with spider webs, how do they hunt? They hunt on sight or rather on air! As long as a small animal passes by, its sensitive hairs, especially those on the legs, can accurately sense the location of potential prey. The spider will stand quietly on the ground, waiting for the prey to come closer. In the blink of an eye, it lunges, grabs it or pulls it under its mouth with its two long legs. When it hunts, it will use the two black fangs of the chelicerae to dig into the skin of its prey. The length of its fangs can exceed 10 mm. The chelicerae and fangs are hollow, just like the needle of hypodermic injection, allowing for the venom to be delivered from the poison gland to the tip of the chelicerae. Even though this species is bigger than other spiders, it still possesses a narrow digestive system. Its mouth secretes digestive fluid that liquefies its food, meaning that its prey begins to be digested before it enters its stomach. Insects🐛, frogs, toads,🐸 mice🐀 and even snakes🐍 are on the menu. So bird spiders don't eat birds🐦? Yes, they hardly hunt birds. It is called the "bird spider" after a far-fetched early 18th century copperplate engraving by Maria Sibylla Merian, which shows a spider eating a hummingbird on a branch. But they don't climb trees to hunt birds. In contrast, they prefer to hunt prey on the ground. To avoid such misunderstandings and this pejorative name, let’s call it Goliath tarantula!
When the Goliath tarantula feels threatened, it rubs its front limbs against each other, and the bristles on the legs produce whistles called stridulations. Even humans at a distance of 4.5 meters can hear this warning sound. It probably means, "Keep your distance!💢" And when it raises its "front legs", it does not mean surrender, but that it is ready to fight. With the two front legs up , it opens its chelicerae and flashes its fangs, rocking forward and down as a warning🚫. At this time, it has enough courage to pounce on the intruder and take a bite. Moreover, the Goliath tarantula’s main weapon is not its fangs but rather its urticating hairs located on the upper part of its abdomen. Using its hind legs, the spider quickly scrapes the urticating hairs and throws this natural itchy powder at its enemies. These urticating hairs stick to the animal's hair, and make the skin itchy and swollen. These urticating hairs are particularly painful if they prick into the eyes. This defense strategy drives away even larger animals and helps the spider to protect itself from harm.
Come visit the Hong Kong Biodiversity Museum to meet the largest and most powerful spider and many other interesting animals and plants😍. If you enjoyed this post, feel free to share it with your friends and follow us every week for more posts.👏🏻
Text: Kailyn
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