Two huntsman spiders were sitting in my awning when I packed up at Illaroo.
It was the last morning of a week at Illaroo campground in Yuraygir National Park. I rolled back the canvas and there they were, flat and long-legged, completely unbothered. Two hand-sized Australian huntsmen, moving house with us.
That is life on our lap around Australia. I have met many big spiders in this country, under bark, in toilet blocks, in car doors. Once, on field work in Sydney, a coworker walked me to an ordinary hole in a bank. It was my first funnel-web burrow.
Big spiders have never scared me, though. Years ago I worked in a zoo reptile house, and tarantula husbandry was part of the job. The first time I held one, it walked off my palm, up my arm and across my body. Slow, light, deliberate. I have loved them since.
So here are the 12 biggest spiders in the world, plus one that earns a bonus spot for its venom. Some are giant spiders by weight, some by leg span, and all are enormous arachnids up close. One of them is not even a spider.
How Do Scientists Measure Spider Size?
There are two ways to crown the largest spider, and they give different winners.
Leg span runs from the tip of one front leg to the tip of the opposite back leg. Long-legged hunters win here. Body length and body mass measure the animal itself, and heavy, burrowing tarantulas win.
So the giant huntsman spider has the longest legs, and the goliath birdeater is the heaviest. Both can fairly be called the world’s largest spider.
Most of this list belongs to the tarantula family, Theraphosidae. The rest are huntsman spiders, one wandering spider, and one impostor. It is not a strict ranking. Think of it as a tour of the heavyweights, roughly from biggest down.
1. Goliath Birdeater (Theraphosa blondi)
- Location: Northern South America
- Leg span: up to 28–30 cm (11–12 inches)
- Weight: up to 175 g (6.2 oz)
The goliath birdeater is the heaviest spider on Earth. The record holder weighed 175 grams, about as much as a cricket ball. Its body alone can reach 12 cm.
It lives in the rainforests of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and northern Brazil. By day it hides in a deep burrow. At night it waits at the entrance to capture prey.
Despite the name, it only occasionally eats birds. The goliath bird eating spider mostly takes large insects, worms and frogs, plus the odd lizard or small rodent. The name comes from an 18th-century engraving of a tarantula on a hummingbird.
Its venom is weak. A bite hurts about as much as a wasp sting. The bigger threat is its barbed hairs, which it brushes off its abdomen with its back legs. They lodge in skin and eyes and itch for days. Females lay egg sacs of up to around 200 eggs.
The goliath birdeater has its own spot on my tree of life.
2. Giant Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda maxima)
- Location: Caves in Laos
- Leg span: up to 30 cm (12 inches)
The giant huntsman spider has the longest legs of any spider alive. Its body is only about 4.6 cm long, but those legs reach a full 30 cm. It was only described in 2001, from caves in Laos.
Huntsmen don’t build webs to catch food. They run it down. In the dark of the caves it is a formidable predator, running down insects on the walls. It moves sideways like a crab.
It is not dangerous to people. Even a spider this massive would rather flee than bite.
The two in my awning were Australian cousins, smaller but built the same way. Flat bodies for squeezing under bark. Legs that splay sideways, not under the body. Australia has dozens of huntsman species, and almost every camper meets one.
3. Brazilian Salmon Pink Birdeater (Lasiodora parahybana)
- Location: Northeastern Brazil
- Leg span: 25–28 cm (10–11 inches)
- Weight: over 100 g
The Brazilian salmon pink is often called the third largest spider in the world. Big females reach a leg span of 28 cm and can weigh more than 100 grams.
It is black with long salmon-pink hairs, and it grows fast. That makes it one of the most popular large tarantulas in the exotic pet trade.
In the wild it lives in the Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil, on the ground or in burrows. It eats mostly large insects and small rodents, and occasionally birds. When threatened, it flicks barbed hairs from its abdomen first. Its bite is painful but not medically significant.
4. Colombian Giant Redleg (Megaphobema robustum)
- Location: Rainforests of Colombia and western Brazil
- Leg span: about 20 cm (8 inches)
The Colombian giant tarantula, also called the Colombian giant redleg tarantula, wears bright orange-red legs on a dark body. It lives in burrows on the rainforest floor.
Its defence is unusual. Most New World tarantulas flick hairs. This one kicks instead, swinging its spiny back legs at an attacker. It eats insects and small lizards.
Habitat loss is its main threat. It is not listed as endangered, but rainforest clearing has shrunk its range.
5. Hercules Baboon Spider (Hysterocrates hercules)
- Location: Nigeria
- Leg span: about 20 cm (estimated)
The Hercules baboon spider is one of the most mysterious spiders on this list. It was described in 1900 from a single specimen collected in Nigeria. That specimen sits in London’s Natural History Museum.
Nobody has confirmed another one since. Spiders sold in the pet trade as “Hercules” are almost always other Hysterocrates species.
Baboon spiders are African tarantulas, named for leg tips that look like a baboon’s fingers. Like the rest of its group, the Hercules baboon is almost certainly a burrowing spider. Everything else about it is educated guesswork.
6. Camel Spider (Solifugae… not a true spider)
- Location: Deserts of the Middle East, Africa and the Americas
- Leg span: up to 15 cm (6 inches)
The camel spider is not a true spider. It belongs to its own arachnid order, Solifugae, alongside more than 1,000 relatives.
It has no venom glands and no silk. What it has is the largest jaws for its size of any arachnid, and serious speed. Estimates put it at about 16 km/h over short bursts.
Most of its fame comes from Gulf War photos. Soldiers held them up close to the camera, so they looked enormous. Real camel spiders hunt insects, other arachnids and small lizards across deserts. One thing Australians can relax about: there are none here.
7. King Baboon Spider (Pelinobius muticus)
- Location: Savannas of Kenya and Tanzania, East Africa
- Leg span: up to 20 cm (8 inches)
The king baboon spider is a rust-coloured burrowing spider with thick, powerful back legs. It digs deep burrows in East Africa’s savanna and rarely leaves them.
When disturbed, it hisses. It does this by rubbing bristles on its mouthparts together, a trick called stridulation. If that fails, it delivers a painful bite, though not a deadly one.
It eats large insects, other spiders and small mammals. Females are slow-growing and can live more than 20 years in captivity.
8. Chaco Golden Knee (Grammostola pulchripes)
- Location: Grasslands of Paraguay and Argentina
- Leg span: up to 20 cm (8 inches)
The Chaco golden knee is the gentle giant of the list. It is dark brown with gold stripes on every knee, and it has a famously docile nature.
In the Gran Chaco it lives in shallow burrows on open grassland. It feels the ground for vibrations and ambushes insects that wander too close.
It is a favourite with keepers, partly because it lives so long. Females can reach 20 years or more. Like the Mexican redknee, it would rather walk away than bite.
9. Brazilian Giant Tawny Red Tarantula (Grammostola iheringi)
- Location: Southern Brazil
- Leg span: about 23 cm (9 inches)
The Brazilian giant tawny red is the biggest Grammostola, with a leg span reaching about 23 cm. It has a reddish carapace and long dark legs.
They live in subtropical grassland and forest edges in southern Brazil. It is a voracious predator, taking large insects and small vertebrates. It’s fast and nervous, and quick to flick barbed hairs.
It is rarer in the hobby than its Chaco cousin. Keepers who have one tend to talk about it a lot.
10. Cerbalus aravaensis ( a huntsman spider from Israel and Jordan)
- Location: Sand dunes of the Arava Valley, Israel and Jordan
- Leg span: up to 14 cm (5.5 inches)
The largest spider in the Middle East lives in sand dunes. Cerbalus aravaensis was described in 2007, and its discovery made headlines in 2010.
At night it hunts insects across the sand. By day it hides in a burrow sealed with a hinged lid of sand and silk.
Its home is shrinking. Agriculture and sand quarrying keep eating into its main dune system, the Sands of Samar. Less than half of it is left.
11. Face-Sized Tarantula (Poecilotheria rajaei)
- Location: Northern Sri Lanka
- Leg span: about 20 cm (8 inches)
Scientists named this one in 2013. It earned its nickname, the face-sized tarantula, because its leg span is about the width of a human face.
It is a tree-dweller, part of a group known for intricate grey, black and yellow patterns. The first specimens came from old trees and even an abandoned hospital building. Like its relatives, it is fast, and its bite is painful.
Its forest home is being cleared, which makes every new record valuable.
12. Queensland Whistling Tarantula (Selenocosmia crassipes)
- Location: Eastern and northern Queensland, Australia
- Leg span: about 16 cm, with reports up to 22 cm
Australia’s biggest spider by mass lives in Queensland. The Queensland whistling tarantula, also called the barking spider, has a body of 6 to 9 cm.
It earns the name by hissing when disturbed, rubbing bristles near its jaws. It lives in deep burrows in rainforest, open forest and sometimes gardens.
Its bite isn’t deadly to people, but it can cause hours of vomiting. For dogs it is far worse. Dogs that dig one up and get bitten can die within hours. Females can live up to 30 years.
You may also see it listed as Phlogius crassipes. Taxonomists still disagree on the genus. but one of the biggest arachnids of Australia for sure.
13. Brazilian Wandering Spider (Phoneutria)
- Location: Central and South America
- Leg span: up to about 15–18 cm (6–7 inches)
The Brazilian wandering spider isn’t the biggest, but it may be the most important on this list. It is among the most venomous spiders in the world.
The name Phoneutria means “murderess”. These spiders don’t build webs. They wander the forest floor at night, hunting insects, frogs, lizards and small mammals. Their habit of hiding in banana bunches also earned them the nickname banana spider.
A venomous bite causes intense pain. In rare cases, mostly in young children, it can be fatal. Antivenom exists, and deaths are now very rare.
The same spider’s venom is also being studied for medicine. Compounds in it are being tested for pain relief and erectile dysfunction.
Are Big Spiders Dangerous?
Mostly, no. Size and danger rarely go together.
The biggest spiders in the world rely on size, hairs and bluff. Their bites hurt, but most are no worse than a wasp sting. The real danger is usually the barbed hairs, which can injure eyes.
The truly venomous spiders tend to be mid-sized. The Brazilian wandering spider is one. In Australia, the funnel-web is another, and it is a lot smaller than the huntsmen people panic about. You can see how they compare in my guide to deadly Australian animals.
Big Spiders and the Pet Trade
Many spiders on this list are bred in captivity. Others are still taken from the wild.
A 2022 study searched online sellers and found over 1,200 arachnid species being traded. Most of them were sold with no international oversight at all. For spiders with tiny ranges, like the face-sized tarantula, that matters.
If you want a large tarantula as a pet, buy captive-bred. Ask the seller where it came from.
FAQs About the Biggest Spiders
It depends on how you measure. The goliath birdeater is the heaviest, at up to 175 grams. The giant huntsman spider of Laos has the longest leg span, at up to 30 cm. Both have a fair claim to the title of world’s largest spider.
By mass, it’s the Queensland whistling tarantula, with a body up to 9 cm long. By leg span, some of Australia’s huntsman spiders compete, reaching around 15 cm or more. Huntsmen are the big spiders most Australians actually meet, often in cars, tents and awnings.
No. Huntsman spiders can bite, and it hurts, but the venom is not dangerous to healthy people. Their biggest risk is to drivers, when one runs across the dashboard.
Most live in South America, especially the rainforests of northern South America. Africa and Southeast Asia hold the next biggest species. The US has a few large ones too, like the Texas brown tarantula. See my guide to the biggest spiders in Texas.
Not as far as we know. Megarachne, a fossil once billed as a 50 cm prehistoric spider, turned out to be a sea scorpion. The biggest known fossil spiders are no bigger than today’s giants.
Check the Awning…. or Your Roof
Next time you pack up camp, look before you fold.
Big spiders are not monsters. They are patient, mostly harmless hunters that keep insect numbers down. Some are eaten by birds, lizards and even wasps. Leave the huntsman on the tent. Let the tarantula walk off your hand. Then start with my guide to spider species, or my tarantula facts.
Wildlife Nomads Challenge
Name That Giant Spider
Eleven photos, all from this article. Name each giant (one is not a true spider), then scroll back up to meet it properly.
References:
Hazzi, N. A., & Hormiga, G. (2021). Morphological and molecular evidence support the taxonomic separation of the medically important Neotropical spiders Phoneutria depilata (Strand, 1909) and P. boliviensis (F.O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897) (Araneae, Ctenidae). ZooKeys, 1022, 13–50. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1022.60571
Kaderka, R., Bulantová, J., Heneberg, P., & Řezáč, M. (2019). Urticating setae of tarantulas (Araneae: Theraphosidae): Morphology, revision of typology and terminology and implications for taxonomy. PLOS ONE, 14(11), e0224384. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224384
Lüddecke, T., Krehenwinkel, H., Canning, G., Glaw, F., Longhorn, S. J., Tänzler, R., Wendt, I., & Vences, M. (2018). Discovering the silk road: Nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data resolve the phylogenetic relationships among theraphosid spider subfamilies. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 119, 63–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2017.10.015
Marshall, B. M., Strine, C. T., Fukushima, C. S., Cardoso, P., Orr, M. C., & Hughes, A. C. (2022). Searching the web builds fuller picture of arachnid trade. Communications Biology, 5, 448. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03374-0
Peigneur, S., de Lima, M. E., & Tytgat, J. (2018). Phoneutria nigriventer venom: A pharmacological treasure. Toxicon, 151, 96–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxicon.2018.07.008
Selden, P. A., Corronca, J. A., & Hünicken, M. A. (2005). The true identity of the supposed giant fossil spider Megarachne. Biology Letters, 1(1), 44–48. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2004.0272
