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313:. Females mature in 3–6 years and have an average lifespan of 15 to 25 years. Males die soon after maturity and have a lifespan of three to six years. Colors range from dark to light brown with faint markings on the legs. Bird-eaters have hair on their bodies, abdomens, and legs. The female lays 100 to 200 eggs, which hatch into spiderlings within 6–8 weeks.
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These spiders can have a leg span of up to 30 cm (12 in), a body length of up to 13 cm (5.1 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. They are
409:. They do not consume their prey in the open; rather, they drag it back to their burrow and begin the digesting process. They do this by liquefying the insides of their prey and proceed to suck it dry. In the wild,
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Herzig, Volker; King, Glenn F. (2013). "The
Neurotoxic Mode of Action of Venoms from the Spider Family Theraphosidae". In Nentwig, Wolfgang (ed.).
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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
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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
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Despite its name, the
Goliath birdeater only rarely actually preys on birds; in the wild, its diet consists primarily of other large
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401:. However, because of its size and opportunistic predatory behavior, this species commonly kills and consumes a variety of
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in the world by mass (175 g (6.2 oz)) and body length (up to 13 cm (5.1 in)), and second to the
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276:; the practice of calling theraphosids "bird-eating" derives from an early 18th-century copper engraving by
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365:'s sting. Tarantulas generally bite humans only in self-defense, and these bites do not always result in
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Perez-Miles, Fernando; Montes de Oca, Laura; Postiglioni, Rodrigo; Costa, Fernando G. (December 2005).
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497:. The spider is part of the local cuisine in northeastern South America, prepared by singeing off the
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718:(Araneae, Theraphosidae) and their possible role in sexual communication: an experimental approach"
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Menin, Marcelo; Rodrigues, Domingos De Jesus; de
Azevedo, Clarissa Salette (October 2005).
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large enough (2–4 cm or 0.79–1.57 in) to break the skin of a human. They carry
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844:"Predation on amphibians by spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) in the Neotropical region"
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and roasting it in banana leaves. The flavor has been described as "shrimp-like".
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477:, the spider is terrestrial, living in deep burrows, and is found commonly in
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810:"Goliath Encounter: Puppy-Sized Spider Surprises Scientist in Rainforest"
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30:"Bird-eating spider" redirects here. The term may also refer to
950:"Puppy-Size Tarantula Found: Explaining World's Biggest Spider"
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World's biggest spider face-off - see which bug wins here
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Unlike other species of spider/tarantula, females rarely
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Video of the
Goliath birdeater being hunted by children
284:. Despite the spider's name, it rarely preys on birds.
986:
Video of the
Goliath birdeater at National Geographic
566:"Tarántula Goliat: La araña más grande del mundo"
1205:
757:"Goliath Birdeater: Images of a Colossal Spider"
519:, largest known spider in the world by leg span
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441:The Goliath birdeater is native to the upland
976:Caring for your Goliath Bird Eating Tarantula
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296:The Goliath birdeater found in South America
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326:In response to threats, Goliath birdeaters
301:mostly tan to light brown and golden-hued.
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513:, a toxin found in Goliath birdeater venom
59:
948:Dell'Amore, Christine (20 October 2014).
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859:
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570:Infoterio Noticias | Ciencia y TecnologĂa
908:Journal of the British Tarantula Society
901:(Araneae, Theraphosidae, Theraphosinae)"
375:
291:
40:, and several species within the genus
27:Species of tarantula from South America
14:
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893:"Life history of Goliath Birdeaters –
822:from the original on 24 November 2017.
1000:
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891:Striffler, Boris F. (November 2005).
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527:, the largest known fossilised spider
1155:1f61ebb7-7b60-4272-b3bd-24ec0d088e08
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268:by leg span. It is also called the
24:
861:10.11606/issn.2316-9079.v4i1p39-47
485:areas. It is a nocturnal species.
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34:, some other members of the genus
25:
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969:
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1191:urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:002488
982: (archived October 31, 2013)
808:Lewis, Tanya (17 October 2014).
755:Lewis, Tanya (18 October 2016).
72:
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738:10.1590/S0073-47212005000400004
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1224:Invertebrates of French Guiana
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413:has been observed feeding on
304:
683:"Goliath Bird Eating Spider"
615:. 2018-12-17. Archived from
493:The Goliath birdeater is an
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714:"The stridulatory setae of
657:"Goliath Bird-Eater Spider"
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321:
311:eat the males during mating
10:
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1239:Invertebrates of Venezuela
637:Goliath Bird-Eating Spider
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346:can be harmful to humans.
274:Goliath bird-eating spider
29:
1008:
784:"Goliath birdeater facts"
725:Iheringia, SĂ©rie Zoologia
587:. Springer. p. 203.
572:(in Spanish). 2024-08-09.
549:October 23, 2014, at the
473:. Most noticeable in the
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69:Scientific classification
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955:National Geographic Blog
437:Distribution and habitat
1229:Invertebrates of Guyana
524:Mongolarachne jurassica
689:. 2003. Archived from
447:Northern South America
405:and small terrestrial
381:
380:A captive adult female
297:
517:Giant huntsman spider
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349:Like all tarantulas,
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266:giant huntsman spider
962:on 15 December 2018.
895:Theraphosa apophysis
716:Acanthoscurria suina
585:Spider Ecophysiology
282:eating a hummingbird
278:Maria Sibylla Merian
260:, it is the largest
256:. Found in northern
1244:Fauna of the Amazon
832:National Geographic
609:"Goliath Birdeater"
929:on 6 December 2013
687:Blue Planet Biomes
663:. 26 February 2014
642:2016-04-16 at the
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54:Goliath birdeater
1234:Fauna of Suriname
1219:Spiders of Brazil
1201:
1200:
1163:Open Tree of Life
1054:Theraphosa_blondi
1040:Theraphosa blondi
1010:Theraphosa blondi
1002:Taxon identifiers
899:Theraphosa blondi
594:978-3-642-33989-9
475:Amazon rainforest
270:Goliath tarantula
248:) belongs to the
245:Theraphosa blondi
240:Goliath birdeater
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198:Theraphosa blondi
32:eastern tarantula
18:Theraphosa blondi
16:(Redirected from
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189:Binomial name
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156:Theraphosidae
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960:the original
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933:10 September
931:. Retrieved
924:the original
914:(1): 26–33.
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854:(1): 39–47.
851:
848:Phyllomedusa
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792:. Retrieved
790:. 2018-12-18
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691:the original
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367:envenomation
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142:Infraorder:
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1101:iNaturalist
1034:Wikispecies
768:20 February
697:11 November
667:11 November
465:, eastern
461:, northern
445:regions of
429:, and even
407:vertebrates
330:by rubbing
116:Chelicerata
112:Subphylum:
1208:Categories
794:2024-08-19
623:2020-12-04
532:References
443:rainforest
399:amphibians
391:arthropods
328:stridulate
305:Life cycle
224:T. blondii
167:Theraphosa
106:Arthropoda
43:Avicularia
37:Theraphosa
920:0962-449X
870:1519-1397
471:Venezuela
411:T. blondi
351:T. blondi
336:pedipalps
334:on their
317:Behaviour
250:tarantula
206:Latreille
174:Species:
126:Arachnida
92:Kingdom:
86:Eukaryota
1119:10838494
1019:Wikidata
820:Archived
646:, Arkive
640:Archived
547:Archived
505:See also
467:Colombia
451:Suriname
371:dry bite
342:. These
322:Defenses
215:Synonyms
152:Family:
102:Phylum:
96:Animalia
82:Domain:
1178:2103588
1093:5170451
1080:1182372
1025:Q617000
978:at the
878:1825594
788:Animals
613:Animals
427:lizards
415:rodents
403:insects
385:Feeding
252:family
208:, 1804)
162:Genus:
136:Araneae
132:Order:
122:Class:
1175:uBio:
1152:NZOR:
1145:260533
1132:868632
1106:205163
918:
876:
868:
591:
483:swampy
479:marshy
463:Brazil
455:Guyana
431:snakes
397:, and
262:spider
1168:95320
1114:IRMNG
1067:56CM9
927:(PDF)
904:(PDF)
874:S2CID
721:(PDF)
423:toads
419:frogs
395:worms
359:venom
355:fangs
332:setae
1140:NCBI
1127:ITIS
1088:GBIF
935:2013
916:ISSN
897:and
866:ISSN
770:2017
699:2018
669:2018
589:ISBN
511:TLTx
373:”).
363:wasp
238:The
1186:WSC
1075:EoL
1062:CoL
1049:ADW
856:doi
733:doi
481:or
272:or
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
