Originally, I heard about this arachnid as a joke and I was mortified. I was sitting in lunch one day and a person told me, "Do you know there are spiders that can eat birds?". I thought it was a joke but when I looked into it, I learned about the Goliath Birdeater, the largest spiders to ever exist, do in fact eat small birds. This spider is a type of tarantula, and thankfully lives in South America. Now you might want to know how big this species is. Well, on average they have the body size of 4.75 inches and the leg span of 11 inches. Now a spider that is 2-3 feet big is something to be scared of. They can actually eatbirds that get caught in their nets but rarely do: they consume a variety of prey that is smaller than the species itself. Additionally, what is interesting about this species is that after mating, the female doesn't leave the egg sack of the spiders in her web - she carries it with her. Often times the egg sack is as big as a tennis ball, and contains about 70 spider eggs.
I think people should really stop to notice unique species can be. It is almost surreal to see a house spider as big as a thumbtack that could be the same species as the Goliath bird eater who is bigger than some small animals. What is interesting to understand is how such a variation of the species evolved to become so big. Ultimately evolution is dependent on environment, so it would be interesting to see what in the Southern American climate would allow such a spider to develop.
Additionally the way this spider hunts is very different from species we are used to. While the Goliath bird eater has eight legs, it has very poor eyesight. The species is also virtually unable to smell or hear its prey, relying primarily on its hair to get a sense and to track it down. The fact that it can use the vibrations in its environment entirely being as big as it is is almost unbelievable. Like other species of spiders, this one molts and through the process of molting can regenerate entire limbs! Now that is just crazy. It has very dangerous venom that does not only harm the insides of its prey, but dissolves everything inside into a juice that the spider than consumes. This is very interesting because although this venom has devastating effects on its victims, its bite is relatively harmless to people. A spider such as the black widow although smaller has a much more devastating bite than this huge species.
I think my biggest takeaway from this species is just how illogical the species is. The habits and and tendencies of this animal could not be predicted by anyone.