View source for Lycosa tarantula

{{Short description|Species of arachnid}}
{{use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Lycosa tarantula.png
| taxon = Lycosa tarantula
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| synonyms = 
  {{Species list
  |Aranea tarantula|Linnaeus, 1758
  |Lycosa tarantula|(Linnaeus, 1758)
  |Lycosa tarentula narbonensis|Walckenaer, 1806
  |Lycosa melanogaster|Latreille, 1817
  |Lycosa narbonensis|Walckenaer, 1837
  |Lycosa rubiginosa|C. L. Koch, 1838
  |Tarentula apuliae|C. L. Koch, 1850
  |Tarentula rubiginosa|(C. L. Koch, 1838)
  |Tarentula melanogaster|(Latreille, 1817)
  |Tarentula fasciiventris|Thorell, 1873
  |Tarentula narbonensis|(Walckenaer, 1837)
  }}
| synonyms_ref = <ref name=WSC_s20084>{{citation |mode=cs1 |title=Taxon details ''Lycosa tarantula'' (Linnaeus, 1758) |work=World Spider Catalog |publisher=Natural History Museum Bern |url=https://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/species/20084 |access-date=2021-01-07 }}</ref>
}}
[[File:Lycosa tarentula frontal.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Frontal view of ''Lycosa tarantula'']]
[[File:Zagreb - September 2019.jpg|thumb|Mother with young on her back|alt=]]<!--
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[[File:Lycosatarantula.png|thumb|right|200px|portrait of Lycosa tarantula]]
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'''''Lycosa tarantula''''' is the species originally known as the '''tarantula''', a name that nowadays in English commonly refers to spiders in another family entirely, the [[Tarantula|Theraphosidae]]. It now may be better called the '''tarantula wolf spider''', being in the [[wolf spider]] family, the Lycosidae. ''L. tarantula'' is a large species found in southern Europe, especially in the [[Apulia]] region of [[Italy]] and near the city of [[Taranto]], from which it gets its name.<ref name="AHD-2009">{{AHDict|tarantula}} {{retrieved|access-date=30 May 2025}} "[Medieval Latin, from Old Italian ''tarantola'', after '''Taranto'''.]"</ref>

Historical superstition has it that the spider's bite can produce severe symptoms called [[tarantism]].

==Description==
These spiders are rather large, the females being as large as {{convert|30|mm|in|abbr=in|frac=16}} in body length{{sfn|Foelix|2010|p=11}} and the males around {{convert|19|mm|in|abbr=in|frac=4}}. As with other wolf spiders, the silken sac containing over 100 eggs is carried attached to the mother's spinnerets, and then after they hatch, the spiderlings climb on their mother's abdomen and ride around with her for some time until they are sufficiently mature to survive on their own.{{sfn|Foelix|2010|p=11}} After leaving their mother's protection, the young spiders disperse and dig burrows. Females live in their burrows all their lives except for nocturnal forays to capture prey, but the mature males leave the protection of burrows and wander about looking for mates. The males can live for 2 years. The females can live for 4 years or more. Many sexual encounters (about one-third according to one study) end in [[sexual cannibalism|the females cannibalizing the male]] instead.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rabaneda-Bueno |first1=Rubén |last2=Rodríguez-Gironés |first2=Miguel Á. |last3=Aguado-de-la-Paz |first3=Sara |last4=Fernández-Montraveta |first4=Carmen |last5=De Mas |first5=Eva |last6=Wise |first6=David H. |last7=Moya-Laraño |first7=Jordi  |year=2008 |title=Sexual Cannibalism: High Incidence in a Natural Population with Benefits to Females |journal=PLoS ONE |volume=3 |issue=10 |at=e3484 |pmid=18941517 |url=https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003484 |access-date=30 May 2025}}</ref> During the winter, these spiders hibernate in their burrows.

They are a nocturnal species and generally lurk at the mouths of their burrows waiting for prey, so people are unlikely to encounter them. Unlike the Salticidae ([[jumping spider]]s), which may exhibit curiosity about humans and may be content to wander around on one's hand, the Lycosidae (wolf spiders) have a very strong tendency to flee at the approach of any large animal. They have quite good eyesight, so a human is unlikely to approach them unseen. Capturing them is relatively difficult, because they keep moving and can run very fast.  When wolf spiders are cornered, they show no inclination to make threat displays, much less to advance on a human's hand with the intention of biting.

==Taxonomy==
The species was first described by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in 1758 (as ''Aranea tarantula''). It was transferred to the genus ''[[Lycosa]]'' by [[Pierre André Latreille]] in 1806. [[Charles Athanase Walckenaer]] in the same 1806 publication described the subspecies ''narbonensis'', which in 1837 he raised to a full species as ''Lycosa narbonensis''.<ref name=WSC_s20084/> A [[Molecular phylogenetics|molecular phylogenetic]] study in 2013 showed that specimens assigned to this taxon were not genetically different from ''Lycosa tarantula'',<ref name=PlanFernRibe13>{{Citation |mode=cs1 |last1=Planas |first1=E. |last2=Fernández-Montraveta |first2=C. |last3=Ribera |first3=C. |date=2013 |title=Molecular systematics of the wolf spider genus ''Lycosa'' (Araneae: Lycosidae) in the western Mediterranean basin |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=67 |issue=2 |pages=414–428 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2013.02.006 |pmid=23416758 |bibcode=2013MolPE..67..414P |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790313000638 |access-date=30 May 2025 |name-list-style=amp |url-access=subscription }}</ref> so that ''L.&nbsp;narbonensis'' is now treated as synonym of ''L.&nbsp;tarantula''.<ref name=WSC_s20084/>

==Tarantism==
{{Main|tarantism}}
A once-traditional belief among Apulian peasantry is that a person bitten by one of these spiders must be treated by indulging in a special kind of dancing. The dance, or some version of it, is now known as the [[tarantella]]. However, the [[Spider bite|bites]] of this spider are not known to cause severe symptoms in humans, much less endanger human life.<ref name= "JHFLS">{{cite book|last=Fabre|first=Jean-Henri|title=The Life of the Spider|translator-last=Teixeira de Mattos|translator-first=Alexander |location=New York|publisher=Dodd, Mead and Company|orig-year=1912|year=1916|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/3032|access-date=30 May 2025|via=Biodiversity Library|oclc=263161853|doi=10.5962/bhl.title.3032}}</ref>

==Venom==
The venom of the ''Lycosa tarantula'' is not known to be harmful to people,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Koua |first1=Dominique |last2=Mary |first2=Rosanna |last3=Ebou |first3=Anicet |last4=Barrachina |first4=Celia |last5=El Koulali |first5=Khadija |last6=Cazals |first6=Guillaume |last7=Charnet |first7=Pierre |last8=Dutertre |first8=Sebastien |date=August 2020 |title=Proteotranscriptomic Insights into the Venom Composition of the Wolf Spider Lycosa tarantula |journal=Toxins |language=en |volume=12 |issue=8 |pages=501 |doi=10.3390/toxins12080501 |doi-access=free |issn=2072-6651|pmc=7471975 }}</ref> this can also be said for the entire ''Lycosidae'' family since it is not one of the families recognized as posing a serious health risk to people.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Mullen |first1=Gary R. |title=Chapter 25 - Spiders (Araneae) |date=2019-01-01 |work=Medical and Veterinary Entomology (Third Edition) |pages=507–531 |editor-last=Mullen |editor-first=Gary R. |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B978012814043700025X |access-date=2024-11-27 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0-12-814043-7 |last2=Vetter |first2=Richard S. |editor2-last=Durden |editor2-first=Lance A.}}</ref> However, ''L. tarantula'' has been observed to be harmful to some small vertebrates, so careful handling is important with this species.<ref name=":0" /> A broad study of the genus ''Lycosa'' found that injecting venom from different spiders in this genus typically only resulted in swelling in guinea pigs that did not last more than 7 days, scabbing in pigs that cleared up in about a week, and slight hemolysis when tested on human red blood cells.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Peterson |first=Robert Victor |title=Toxicity, hemolytic activity, and protein components of the venom from certain spiders of the family Lycosidae (Araneae) |date=May 1970 |publisher=Oklahoma State University |degree=PhD |url=https://openresearch.okstate.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/2ee5d75b-6c6f-45ce-948e-3019e6332d2e/content |access-date=30 May 2025}}</ref>

''L. tarantula'' venom is composed mostly of neurotoxins and venom proteins. Their venom shares similarities to other ''Lycosa'' spiders, as well as the American Wandering spider, though they are not of the ''Lycosidae'' family''.'' While the venom complexity is similar, there are differences in the mass of certain ions and proteins found in male and female venom. When compared to males, over half of these measurements are unique only to the females of the species.<ref name=":0" />

==Subspecies==
* ''L. t. carsica'' <small>Caporiacco, 1949</small> — Italy
* ''L. t. cisalpina'' <small>Simon, 1937</small> — France

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book|last=Foelix|first=Rainer F.|title=Biology of spiders|year=2010|location=New York|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-973482-5|edition=3}}

==Further reading==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikispecies}}
* {{cite book|last=Crompton|first=John|title=The Life of the Spider|location=Boston|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|year=1951|orig-year=1950|oclc=1035895426|pages=70–71|url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofspider00crom|url-access=registration|access-date=30 May 2025|via=Internet Archive}}

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q1317090|from2=Q2663428}}

[[Category:Spiders described in 1758]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]
[[Category:Spiders of Europe]]
[[Category:Lycosidae]]