Arthropods are long-standing companions of man. They inhabited the Earth long before it appeared on it. This type of animal has been well studied, including the largest Spider order in it in terms of the number of species , including about 42 thousand units.
Many people are interested in animal champions. For example, the largest, smallest, longest living, etc. What is the largest spider in the world? The answer to this question will be given below.
Ancient spiders
Giant spiders lived on our planet in prehistoric times. However, their size then, as scientists suggest, was much more impressive. In the modern world, the largest spider is no more than medium-sized plates. In ancient times, according to researchers, spiders the size of a small child could be found. These assumptions are based on the existence of meganeuvres — giant dragonflies that lived on Earth in the Carboniferous period, whose wingspan was up to 1 meter, confirmed by archaeological research. By analogy, it is believed that other insects, as well as the arthropods that inhabited our planet in antiquity, could have gigantic proportions. However, this hypothesis is not confirmed by archaeological finds. The name of the largest fossil spider is Nephila Jurassica. It was found in China, and in size it is quite comparable with modern arthropods: the span of its paws is about 15 centimeters. This is a female.
General information
The largest spider in the world belongs to the family of Tarantulas. Its name is Theraphosa blondi. The French scientist Pierre Andre Latreil described it in 1804, and since then it has been in the focus of attention of zoologists. These arthropods that live in the mountain tropical forests of northern Brazil, Venezuela, Suriname and Guyana are quite rare in nature.
Tarantula spiders dig deep holes and line them with a woven web. They leave their home only for hunting and mating.
Description
The females of these tarantula spiders, also called goliaths, as is often the case in the animal kingdom, are much larger than males. The description of the largest spider in the world indicates its unique size. So, the body length of a male Goliath tarantula is about 85 mm, and females up to 100 mm. If to straighten all its extremities, then the size of the arthropod will be about 28 cm! The weight of the spider on average is about 150 grams.
The body of the goliath spider is dark brown in color, the limbs are covered with reddish-brown small hairs. But this “plumage” is not a decoration, but a means of protection. Getting into the respiratory organs or on the skin of the opponent of the goliath, these hairs cause severe irritation and force him to retreat. Tarantula spiders comb their hairs with sharp movements of their hind legs towards the enemy. In addition, small hairs serve as the organ of touch. With their help, goliaths are able to capture the smallest fluctuations in air or a solid medium. The hairs partially compensate for the poor vision of the spider, helping it to hunt at night.
On the front legs of the males there are special outgrowths-hooks with which they hold the jaws of the female during the mating process in order to save their life. After this process, the males hastily retreat.
In addition to hairs, these giants also have another weapon - strong poison, which has long been considered deadly. In fact, it only causes severe burning sensation and swelling in a person. The pain is quite tolerable and can be compared with the sensations of a bee sting. But for those who suffer from allergies, the bite of a Goliath tarantula can be a serious danger.
Breeding
Goliath tarantulas reach puberty at different times: males are one and a half years old, and females are two to two and a half years old. Until this time, 9 males pass in males, and 10 links in females. After mating, the females spin a small, about 3 cm long cocoon in which they lay their eggs. The spider vigilantly guards the clutch throughout the entire time of breeding (6-7 weeks), and even going to hunt, carries it with it. At this time, she is most aggressive, and meeting her does not bode well. Little spiders live in a hole with their mother until the first molt, then leave the shelter.
Nutrition
The diet of this arthropod is quite diverse. It includes insects, as well as small animals - snakes, frogs, lizards, rodents. Despite his name, he does not attack birds, except that he can eat the nestling that has fallen from the nest.
Attacking the victim, the Goliath tarantula first bites it, immobilizing it with its poison, and injects digestive juices into its body, softening the flesh. This allows the spider to suck out nutrients, leaving hard shells intact.
Captivity
Those who are going to keep these giants at home should provide them with familiar conditions. The optimum temperature for the content of these arthropods is 22-24 degrees Celsius, humidity - 70-80%. Since this spider is burrowing and leads a nocturnal lifestyle, there must be a shelter in the terrarium. Good ventilation must be provided. At the bottom of the terrarium there should be a layer of substrate 6-8 cm thick.
Feed the spider with small insects and pieces of meat. For feeding adults, you can use lizards, mice and frogs.
It should be remembered that this arthropod is quite nervous and aggressive in nature and should be handled with care. The tarantula spider is not friendly, and if the owner wants to accustom it to hands, you need to do it gradually, carefully removing the pet from the terrarium to avoid bites.
Interesting Facts
Here are some interesting facts about Theraphosa blondi:
The world's largest spider owes its name to the famous illustrator, engraver of the turn of the 17-18 centuries, Maria Sibille Merian, whose drawings enriched botany and zoology. It is difficult to overestimate her contribution to science, because the artist left many images of plants, insects, animals. Her drawings today strike with exceptional accuracy and liveliness of colors. Impressed by the story of researchers who allegedly saw the world's largest goliath spider devour a bird, she portrayed this scene in one of her works, and the legend thus gained further distribution.
An interesting feature of Goliath tarantulas is the so-called stridulation - the ability to make peculiar hissing sounds by rubbing each other chelicera - mouth appendages. It is assumed that in nature it is used by these giants to scare away enemies.
Theraphosa blondi population in nature is quite small, and it is declining from year to year. One of the reasons for this is that the locals not only spiders themselves, but their eggs are considered a real delicacy, and they are happy to eat them.
The largest and most dangerous spiders in the world for humans are not tarantulas at all. They are considered arthropods, called Brazilian wandering spiders (genus Phoneutria). Their size is much more modest, only about 10 cm, but the poison is much more toxic. The bite of Brazilian wandering spiders is moderate pain, but in the absence of medical care, paralysis and respiratory arrest occur as a result. However, there is an effective antidote against this neurotoxin (PhTx3), so the number of deaths is less than it could be.
On a note
In some lists of the most huge and terrible spiders, the first place is mistakenly occupied by Heteropoda maxima - a species discovered in 2001 in Laos. Indeed, this arthropod has a larger range of limbs - up to 30 mm. However, the Goliath tarantula significantly exceeds it in body size: 85 and 100 mm in males and females, respectively, against 30 and 46 mm. Thus, of these giant spiders, Theraphosa blondi is still considered the largest spider in the world.
Finally
The article briefly described the largest spider in the world. Although it does not pose a particular danger to humans, its dimensions inspire respect. This unique creature, in spite of its repulsive appearance, is an integral harmonious part of wildlife and takes its rightful place in it. We hope that the information presented in the material will be interesting and useful to readers.