The spider as big as a dinner plate that eats birds
This spider is the size of a dinner plate — and it really does eat birds.
The short version
The Goliath birdeater is the largest spider on Earth, with a leg span near a foot and the weight of a small puppy. When threatened it hisses by rubbing its legs and flicks clouds of tiny barbed hairs that burn eyes and skin. Its fangs are nearly an inch long, though its venom is mild to humans.
Why it's so weird
- ✓The Goliath Birdeater flicks a cloud of tiny barbed hairs off its belly that lodge in eyes and skin and burn for hours.
- ✓The Goliath Birdeater is the largest spider on the entire planet, with legs that span almost a foot.
- ✓The Goliath Birdeater weighs about as much as a small puppy.
- ✓The Goliath Birdeater hisses by rubbing its legs together, a sound you can hear from a few feet away.
- ✓The Goliath Birdeater has fangs nearly an inch long that can easily pierce a mouse.
The full story
This spider is the size of a dinner plate, and yes, it really does eat birds. Meet the Goliath birdeater, the largest spider on the entire planet. Its legs can span almost a foot, and it weighs about as much as a small puppy. When something threatens it, it rubs its legs together to make a loud hissing sound you can hear from a few feet away. If that does not work, it flicks a cloud of tiny barbed hairs off its belly that lodge in your eyes and skin and burn for hours. And it backs all that up with fangs nearly an inch long that can easily pierce a mouse. Luckily for us, its venom is only about as bad as a wasp sting. The females can live for fifteen to twenty years, slowly molting their whole skin to grow even bigger. Big, hairy, and surprisingly polite. Follow for more weird animal facts.
Watch the 45-second version
Goliath Birdeater gallery
