If you’re in any way afraid of spiders, we advise you to look away now. In actual fact, you might want to look away even if spiders don’t scare you at all.
You might be the type of person who gets a shock at the sight of a spider in the bathtub and if you are, we can only imagine how you’d react if you came face to face with the South American Goliath birdeater, the largest spider in the world according to the Guinness World Records.
Piotr Naskrecki, an entomologist and photographer at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology did come across it in a rainforest in Guyana and, as documented in his blog, this is what he came across (don’t say we didn’t warn you)…
Goliath Encounter: Puppy-Sized Spider Surprises Scientist in Rainforest @BearGrylls @midnight http://t.co/53uokAMOlu pic.twitter.com/OVNyAJk2YL
— Live Science (@LiveScience) October 20, 2014
Naskrecki told Live Science that the spider weighs about 170 grams (about the same as a small puppy), has a body the size of a human fist and has two-inch fangs.
While its bite is venomous, it’s not deadly to humans (it would be still be painful) but its main prey – earthworms, frogs and insects – are not so lucky.
According to Naskrecki, the birdeater is very hard to find so you’re not likely to come across it unless you’re planning on exploring some South American rainforests anytime soon.
That said, after hearing Naskrecki’s description, we can’t help but think that it has showed up in Ireland before…
Hat-tip: Live Science
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