The Bird Eater

I know, I know, I've never submitted photos of bugs before. But this trip to the zoo has shown me that my camera is actually pretty good at photographing arthropods. Just wait until I start posting the reptile photos...

Though it normally eats mice, someone saw one of these guys eating a hummingbird once and gave it the name "bird eating spider" or "Goliath birdeater". This tarantula is often recognized as the largest spider in the world, with a diameter of a large dinner plate when the legs are all spread out.
Bites on humans are rare, and the venom is about as powerful as a wasp's. Instead they tend to fling their needle-sharp hairs at threats, and people who have been shot by them report that the hairs are about as irritating as shards of fiberglass.
Photo taken at teh San Diego Zoo, California.
Copyright by me.