Despite its common name, the bird-eating spider rarely eats birds. Occasionally, hatchling birds will be taken from nests on the ground, however, the bulk of the diet comprises insects, lizards, frogs, and other spiders. Although the fangs are long and robust and can easily penetrate human skin, the bite is not deadly. The venom is quite toxic, however, and bites may cause severe pain, nausea and profuse sweating.
The female bird-eating spider spends most of her life in her burrow. During spring or early summer. The male approaches the female's burrow and entices her out, hopefully without becoming dinner, to mate at the entrance. The female lays about 50 eggs into a 30mm diameter sack several days later, which is stored in the burrow and protected by a tough cover of silk. If the female leaves the burrow to hunt, she will often take the egg sack with her, secured between the palps and fang tips. While females may live in excess of ten years, the male usually dies after mating at around five years of age.
My dear friend's son is having a birthday this week.
This is a kid after my own heart. He LOVES insects, bugs, and
GIANT spiders!
The Goliath is his favorite and therefore, I felt it was necessary to find
the best photo of this gorgeously purple creature
and make that the focus of his birthday card.
Happy Birthday Ethan!
what a fantastic birthday card, amazing x
ReplyDeleteOMG! That just makes me crawl!!!!! He's so HAIRLY!!!! EEK! I'm off to Chicago! Miss you guys already! xxD
ReplyDeleteSeriously beautiful spider... but my skin is still crawling :) Awesome work as always, my Minion!!
ReplyDeleteOh my, that is one very large spider....((shudder)) :D
ReplyDeleteLovely blog, glad I found you. Hope your son has a great birthday!
Cheers!
Ughhhhh....he'll be keeping that card in his room! He'll love it! You're too sweet!
ReplyDeleteughhh gross!! Awesome card for a young boy though!! xx
ReplyDeleteThis is a great birthday card. And a beautiful spider on it. I love spiders, too. When I was in primary school, a little animal circus with bird eating spiders came to our school. They had snakes and monkeys, too. Some of the girls didn't like the spiders and the snakes but I was very impressed.
ReplyDeleteOh. Hell. No! Sorry lady that one put me over the edge! Seriously though, I am a fan of spiders/spiderwebs in rubber, ink, & paper! Funny thing, as kids we used to go out cutting wood with my dad and he would sometimes find tarantulas and bring them home in a jar. Pretty and fascinating to look at but you never caught me touching!
ReplyDelete