Goliath Birdeater Or Tarantula Goliath Found In Puerto Ayacucho Amazonas State Venezuela Royalty-Free Stock Photography

The Goliath birdeater Theraphosa blondi belongs to the tarantula family Theraphosidae. Found in northern South America, it is the largest spider in the world by mass and size, but it is second to the giant huntsman spider by leg-span.[1] It is also called the 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. It only rarely preys on adult birdsThe goliath birdeater is native to the upland rain forest regions of northern South America: Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, northern Brazil and southern Venezuela. Most noticeable is in the Amazon rainforest, the spider is terrestrial, living in deep burrows, and is found commonly in marshy or swampy areas. It is a nocturnal species.[3] The spider is part of the local cuisine in northeastern South America, prepared by singeing off the urticating hairs and roasting it in banana leaves. The flavor has been described as `shrimplike`nn