Collection of the largest spiders in the world

The Goliath bird spider tops the list of largest spiders by mass, but is still smaller than the giant Huntsman spider in terms of stride.

The first spiders evolved around 400 million years ago. Most live underground, adapted to a life of burrowing instead of weaving. They had more active hunting strategies because their prey was usually larger at that time, according to doctoral student Anna Holmquist at the University of California at Berkley, USA.

Over time, most spiders have adapted to web spinning and become smaller, but some have maintained the burrowing lifestyle to this day and dominate the list of the largest spiders.

Goliath bird-hunting spider.

With a body length of up to 13 cm, a stride length of nearly 30 cm and a weight of up to 175 grams, the Goliath bird spider (Theraphosa blondi) is recognized as the largest living spider in the world by mass. It is found in the rainforests of South America and prefers to hide under rocks or in underground burrows.

Although known as bird-eating spiders, Theraphosa blondi mainly eats insects, earthworms, amphibians, and sometimes large rodents such as rats. Cases of eating birds have been reported but are quite rare.

"Another misconception is that these large spiders can be deadly, but that is not true. They have venom but not strong enough to cause death," Holmquist said.

Giant Huntsman Spider.

The Goliath bird spider is the largest in mass but not the largest in stride size. That title belongs to the giant Huntsman spider (Heteropoda maxima) of Laos. They possess a 30-centimeter stride, slightly longer than that of bird-hunting spiders, but have a significantly smaller body, only about 4-4.6 centimeters long.

Similar to the giant bird-hunting spider, Heteropoda maxima does not spin webs. They often hide under rocks or rough bark to ambush their prey, then use their venom to kill them. The Huntsman spider's menu consists mainly of large insects such as cockroaches.

Third on the list of the largest spiders is the Brazilian bird spider (Lasiodora parahybana) with a stride length of nearly 28 cm and a weight of more than 100 grams. They are known for their amazingly fast growth rates, which can reach 15 centimeters in the first year of life.

Brazilian bird spider.

Like the Goliath bird spider, Lasiodora parahybana is primarily insectivorous and has rarely been observed eating birds. They also do not spin webs, but hunt in a waiting and ambush fashion.

Holmquist notes that despite their impressive size, scientists so far know very little about giant spiders in general.

"Currently, we have identified about 45,000 species of spiders, but in reality there may be 80,000 to 90,000 species of spiders out there. Whenever I visit the fields, I see giant spiders. and there may be larger species yet to be discovered," the researcher added.