Harvard entomologist Piotr Naskrecki received hate mail and death threats after he wrote a blog about his discovery of a "puppy-sized" spider in the rainforest of Guyana in South America.

The researcher's post went viral but Naskrecki was savagely criticized for killing the South American Goliath birdeater spider, also known as Theraphosa blondi, and placing it in a museum.

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According to Bloomberg, netizens accused Naskrecki of cruelty. The attacks were sent to his Facebook page and he even received a death threats via email.

"I have received quite a bit of negative reactions to the fact that we scientists have to collect specimens occasionally," Naskrecki said in a statement.

"Collecting and preservation of physical specimens is an integral element of biological sciences. Theraphosa blondi is the largest spider in the world and it makes a perfect specimen for teaching spider morphology," the Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology scientist added.

In his blog, Naskrecki explained there's no other way to look inside an organism but to properly euthanize and preserve the Goliath birdeater spider, so the specimen could be used for study by future scientists.

Naskrecki further defend his killing the spider on his blog and said "collecting of a single individual poses absolutely no threat to its survival."

The puppy-sized spider is now on display at the Center for the Study of Biological Diversity in the University of Guyana. The creature is "carefully labeled and deposited in the collection in Guyana" which now serves as an important teaching tool, Naskrecki said.

TagsPuppy-Sized Spider, Harvard scientist receives death threats, death threat, goliath bird eating spider, Spiders, world's largest spider, amazon bird eating spider