Unusual Arachnid
People may think of a spider as harmful but it depends how you react and what type of spider it is. Even though they are the biggest tarantula the Goliath bird-eating spider is more dangerous to animals than they are to humans. The largest this spider has ever gotten was 11 inches long. Also this spider can weigh up to 6 ounces. This spider got its name by explorers when they saw the spider eating a hummingbird. The spider injects its prey with about 2 centimeter fangs. In addition, they also have 6 joints in each leg, 8 eyes, 8 legs and two important body sections, the thorax and the abdomen. The legs are attached to the thorax and the silk glands are in the abdomen. The silk glands contain silk to make silk mats. The silk mats cover their burrow. When an animal walk on the silk mats, special hairs on the spider sense the movement and the spider reacts, and injects the animal then eats it. Not only does the spiders hairs sense movement but they also irritate the human skin. That's why you can not keep them as a pet because the hairs float through the air. Their hairs are brownish-black in color but some hairs are dull tan or reddish color. These spiders also bite humans too as self-defense, but don’t worry, it isn’t deadly to humans. Speaking of self-defense, the spiders make a hissing noise by rubbing their legs together to warn the other animal. It is loud enough to be heard from about 5 yards away! While their sense of noise for defense is strong, their eyesight is not as effective. These animals have poor eyesight and must rely on other senses for survival. While their eyesight is bad, another feature these animals have is their ability of regeneration in which the limbs regrow in their next molt if limbs are ever lost. Adults molt less than babies because the babies grow faster than the adults. The adults molt about two times a year while the babies molt a lot more. Though the spider seems scary they are really unique and fascinating.
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