The scientific name comes from the Greek word "thera" and "phosa", what means wild animal and light. The most common name "Goliath bird eating Tarantula" was given by some explores from the Victorian era who witnessed one eating a hummingbird and reported the sighting to the Western world who were amazed about this gigantic spider.
The average life span of the female Goliath spider lays between 15 and 20 years, but males who die soon after maturity can only reach an age between 3 and 6 years. The color of this big spider is mostly dark to light brown with thousands of hairs on their body.
This spider seems dangerous, but is totally harmless for humans. However they do carry venoums fangs of about 1 to 2 centimeters. A bite of the Goliath Bird Eating Tarantula can be compared with a wasp's sting that is totally harmless, but painfull.
Besides birds, they also feed on bats, lizards, rodents as well as snakes, even the deadly ones.
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