---
title: "Tarantula wolf spider"
description: "Lycosa tarantula — Insecten en spinnen. 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 Theraphosidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/tarantula-wolf-spider
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Tarantula wolf spider

> Lycosa tarantula — Insecten en spinnen. 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 Theraphosidae.

- Scientific name: *Lycosa tarantula*
- Category: `insects` (Insecten en spinnen)
- Habitats: unknown
- iNaturalist observations: 660
- Wikidata: [Q1317090](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1317090)
- iNaturalist taxon: [347861](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/347861)

## Names

- en: Tarantula wolf spider
- de: Apulische Tarantel
- es: Tarántula
- fr: Lycose de Narbonne

## Countries with the most observations

FR (403), IT (77), HR (64)

## Summary

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

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycosa_tarantula

## Photo

![Tarantula wolf spider](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/tarantula-wolf-spider/medium.jpg)

Photo: elodie8162 · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/219296660

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/tarantula-wolf-spider?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).