Goliath birdeater
Theraphosa blondi (Latreille, 1804)
Status not recordedspiders
The goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi) is a spider, an arachnid in the family Theraphosidae and the genus Theraphosa. It belongs to the order Araneae, class Arachnida and phylum Arthropoda, and its scientific name carries the authority (Latreille, 1804).
Quick facts about the goliath birdeater
Adults have a representative body mass of 175.8 g, which places the species in the small size class (adult body mass 10 g to 1 kg). Other English names for it are Goliath bird-eating spider and Goliath birdeater tarantula.
- Weight
- 175.8 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- up to 13 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- 3 years – 25 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Main food
- arthropodssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- forest, wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 42 days – 56 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Age at maturity
- 3 years – 6 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the goliath birdeater
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the goliath birdeater live?
Not recorded
Where has it been introduced?
The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the goliath birdeater as introduced in 1 country.
Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).
What is the goliath birdeater?
The Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi) is a large spider that belongs to the tarantula family Theraphosidae. Found in northern South America, it is the largest spider in the world by mass (175 g (6.2 oz)) and body length (up to 13 cm (5.1 in)), and second to the giant huntsman spider by leg span. It is also considerably longer than the largest known prehistoric spider, Mongolarachne, that had a body length of 2.46 centimeters (0.97 in). It is also called the Goliath tarantula or 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. Despite the spider's name, it rarely preys on birds.
From the Wikipedia article “Goliath birdeater” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Goliath_birdeater&oldid=1383945905), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the goliath birdeater endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the goliath birdeater classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classArachnida
- orderAraneae
- familyTheraphosidae
- genusTheraphosa
- SpeciesTheraphosa blondi (Latreille, 1804)
Synonyms Mygale blondii
Other names and names in other languages (21)
- Goliath bird-eating spiderEnglish
- Goliath bird-eating spiderEnglish
- Goliath birdeater tarantulaEnglish
- sklípkan největšíCzech
- KæmpetarantelDanish
- RiesenvogelspinneGerman
- Goliath-VogelspinneGerman
- Tarántula GoliathSpanish
- Goliat ComepajarosSpanish
- Mygale GoliathFrench
- Araignée GoliathFrench
- Mygale de LeblondFrench
- Mygale LeblondiFrench
- Mygale mangeuse d'oiseauxFrench
- góliát madárpókHungarian
- Migale mangiatrice d'uccelliItalian
- ゴライアスバードイーターJapanese
- GoliathvogelspinDutch
- Aranha-goliasPortuguese
- Tarântula-goliasPortuguese
- Păianjen mâncător de păsări goliatRomanian
Relatives of the goliath birdeater
Other species in the same genus Theraphosa.
CompareGoliath birdeater vs Goliath pinkfootGoliath birdeater vs Burgundy goliath birdeaterGoliath birdeater vs Theraphosa spinipes
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the goliath birdeater?
The goliath birdeater is a spider, an arachnid in the family Theraphosidae within the order Araneae.
What is the scientific name of the goliath birdeater?
Its scientific name is Theraphosa blondi, placing it in the genus Theraphosa.
How heavy is the goliath birdeater?
Adults have a representative body mass of 175.8 g.
How big is the goliath birdeater?
By adult body mass it falls in the small size class, defined as 10 g to 1 kg, with a representative adult mass of 175.8 g.
Who named Theraphosa blondi and when?
The scientific name carries the authority (Latreille, 1804).
What other names does the goliath birdeater have?
It is also called the Goliath bird-eating spider and the goliath birdeater tarantula.
Is the goliath birdeater an invasive species?
The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the goliath birdeater as introduced in 1 country: Mexico, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS) · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-11-13
Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group. - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/goliath-birdeater
“Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/goliath-birdeater.
@misc{goliath_birdeater_2026,
title = {Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/goliath-birdeater},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}