The Goliath Bird-Eating Spider

“The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in kings’ palaces.” [Proverbs 30:28]

The goliath bird-eating spider, found in the jungles of Suriname and French Guiana, is (by mass) the largest spider in the world. This monster arachnid belongs to the tarantula family. It was named by explorers who witnessed one eating a hummingbird.

So how big are they? In 1965, a male specimen was collected that had a leg span over 11 inches! That’s the size of a dinner plate! In addition, these amazing tarantulas also hold the record for the longest-lived spiders. One female specimen lived for an estimated 27 years. This same family of spiders holds the record for the heaviest spider. Another female collected in Suriname weighed a whopping 4.3 ounces. She was also sporting fangs 1 inch long. With creatures like this crawling around, you can understand why many people fear spiders more than death!

The goliath bird-eating spider is pretty harmless to humans, as are most species of tarantulas. They do carry venom in their fangs and have been occasionally known to bite people when threatened, but the venom just causes swelling and mild pain, something like a wasp sting. Most of the time, if a tarantula is forced to bite a human in self-defense they don’t even inject venom – it’s what is known as a “dry bite.”

Strangely, the goliath bird-eating spider can do the most damage to people from the back side. Their abdomens are covered with twisted fiberglass-like hairs filled with microscopic hooks. If forced to defend itself, the tarantula may flick these fine vexing hairs off their tail section with their hind legs. The fuzzy hairs can become embedded in the flesh of anything close by and are extremely irritating to skin. They are especially troublesome if they get into delicate mucous membranes around eyes and mouth. So while most people are worried about the giant fangs in the front, it is really the little hairs in the back that do the most harm.

The Bible teaches the devil also does more damage through the little invisible things. Just as a spider can be found anywhere, even in the palace of a king, so the devil does not limit his work to certain places. Though we cannot see Satan, he roams everywhere on our planet. “And the Lord said to Satan, ‘From where do you come?’ So Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘From going to and from on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it’” (Job 1:7).