🕷️Goliath birdeater
The Goliath birdeater is a large spider that belongs to the tarantula family Theraphosidae. Found in northern South America, it is the largest spider in the world by mass and body length, and second to the giant huntsman spider by leg span. It is also considerably longer than the largest known prehistoric spider, Mongolarachne, that had a body length of 2.46 centimeters (0.97 in). It is also called the Goliath tarantula or Goliath bird-eating spider; the practice of calling theraphosids "bird-eating" derives from an early 18th-century copper engraving by Maria Sibylla Merian that shows one eating a hummingbird. Despite the spider's name, it rarely preys on birds.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
The IUCN Red List has not assessed Theraphosa blondi yet.
- Body mass
- not recorded
- Body length
- 0.11 m
- Shoulder height
- not recorded
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- not recorded
Everything we know about the Goliath birdeater
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body length0.11 maverageOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Species-level value synthesised as the mean of: female.
By sex
- Female0.1 mWorld Spider Trait DatabasePekar et al. 2021, Database 2021:baab064Lyons et al 2025 trait data; Rudloff & Weinmann 2010
- Female0.11 mWorld Spider Trait DatabasePekar et al. 2021, Database 2021:baab064Lyons et al 2025 trait data; Rudloff & Weinmann 2010
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for Goliath birdeater yet: body mass, shoulder height, top speed, bite force, maximum lifespan.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumArthropoda
- ›classArachnida
- ›orderAraneae
- ›familyTheraphosidae
- ›genusTheraphosa
- ›speciesTheraphosa blondi
- orderSpiders · Araneae
- suborderMygalomorphae
- familyTheraphosidae
- genusTheraphosa
All 7 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumArthropoda
- subphylumChelicerata
- orderSpiders · Araneae
- suborderMygalomorphae
- familyTheraphosidae
- genusTheraphosa
More about the Goliath birdeater
Animals caught on camera
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