ETYM New Lat., from Italian tarantola, from Latin Tarentum, now Taranto, in the south of Italy.
Large hairy tropical spider that can inflict painful but not highly venomous bites.
Wolf spider Lycosa tarantula with a 2.5 cm/1 in body.
It spins no web, relying on its speed in hunting to catch its prey. The name “tarantula” is also used for any of the numerous large, hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae, with large poison fangs, native to the sw us and tropical America.
In the Middle Ages, the wolf spider’s bite was thought to cause hysterical ailments for which dancing was the cure, hence the dance named “tarantella”.
Poisonous spider of S Europe.