Lycosa is a genus of wolf spider

Wolf spider

Wolf spiders are members of the family Lycosidae, from the Ancient Greek word "" meaning "wolf". They are robust and agile hunters with good eyesight. They live mostly solitary lives and hunt alone. Some are opportunistic hunters pouncing upon prey as they find it or even chasing it over short...

s. More than 200 species are found, represented throughout most of the world. Often (incorrectly) called the "true tarantula

Tarantula

Tarantulas comprise a group of often hairy and often very large arachnids belonging to the family Theraphosidae, of which approximately 900 species have been identified. Some members of the same Suborder may also be called "tarantulas" in the common parlance. This article will restrict itself to...

", Lycosa can be distinguished from common wolf spiders by their relatively large size. This genus includes the European Lycosa tarantula

Lycosa tarantula

The tarantula wolf spider or just tarantula is a wolf spider found in southern Europe, especially in Italy and near the city of Taranto...

which was once associated with tarantism

Tarantism

Tarantism is an alleged, possibly deadly envenomation, popularly believed to result from the bite of a kind of wolf spider called a "tarantula"...

, a dubious affliction whose symptoms included shaking, cold sweats, and a high fever, asserted to be curable only by the traditional tarantella

Tarantella

The term tarantella groups a number of different southern Italian couple folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time , accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized of traditional Italian music. The specific dance name varies with every region, for instance...

 dance. There is no scientific substantiation of that myth. In fact, the venom of wolf spiders is much less harmful to humans than, eg, that of the European widow spider of the Theridiidae

Tangle web spider

Theridiidae is a large family of spiders, also known as the tangle-web spiders, cobweb spiders and comb-footed spiders. The diverse family includes over 2200 species in over 100 genera) of three-dimensional space-web-builders found throughout the world...

 family.

Lycosa could be found in Libya

Libya

Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

.

Species list

• Lycosa abnormis Guy, 1966 — North Africa
• Lycosa accurata (Becker, 1886) — Mexico
• Lycosa adusta Banks, 1898 — Mexico
• Lycosa affinis Lucas, 1846 — Algeria
• Lycosa ambigua Barrientos, 2004 — Spain
• Lycosa anclata Franganillo, 1946 — Cuba
• Lycosa apacha Chamberlin, 1925 — USA
• Lycosa approximata (O. P.-Cambridge, 1885) — Yarkand
• Lycosa arambagensis Biswas & Biswas, 1992 — India
• Lycosa arapensis (Strand, 1908) — Peru
• Lycosa ariadnae McKay, 1979 — Western Australia
• Lycosa articulata Costa, 1875 — Israel
• Lycosa artigasi Casanueva, 1980 — Chile
• Lycosa asiatica Sytshevskaja, 1980 — Tajikistan
• Lycosa aurea Hogg, 1896 — Central Australia
• Lycosa auroguttata (Keyserling, 1891) — Brazil
• Lycosa australicola (Strand, 1913) — Western Australia, Northern Territory
• Lycosa australis Simon, 1884 — Chile
• Lycosa balaramai Patel & Reddy, 1993 — India
• Lycosa barnesi Gravely, 1924 — India
• Lycosa bedeli Simon, 1876 — North Africa
• Lycosa beihaiensis Yin, Bao & Zhang, 1995 — China
• Lycosa bezzii Mello-Leitão, 1944 — Argentina
• Lycosa bhatnagari Sadana, 1969 — India
• Lycosa bicolor Hogg, 1905 — Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia
• Lycosa biolleyi Banks, 1909 — Costa Rica
• Lycosa bistriata Gravely, 1924 — India, Bhutan
• Lycosa boninensis Tanaka, 1989 — Taiwan, Japan
• Lycosa bonneti Guy & Carricaburu, 1967 — Algeria
• Lycosa brunnea F. O. P.-Cambridge, 1902 — Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico
• Lycosa caenosa Rainbow, 1899 — New Caledonia, New Hebrides
• Lycosa canescens Schenkel, 1963 — China
• Lycosa capensis Simon, 1898 — South Africa
• Lycosa carbonelli Costa & Capocasale, 1984 — Uruguay
• Lycosa carmichaeli Gravely, 1924 — India
• Lycosa castanea Hogg, 1905 — South Australia
• Lycosa cerrofloresiana Petrunkevitch, 1925 — El Salvador to Panama
• Lycosa chaperi Simon, 1885 — India, Pakistan
• Lycosa choudhuryi Tikader & Malhotra, 1980 — India, China
• Lycosa cingara (C. L. Koch, 1847) — Egypt
• Lycosa clarissa Roewer, 1951 — Spain
• Lycosa coelestis L. Koch, 1878 — China, Korea, Japan
• Lycosa connexa Roewer, 1960 — South Africa
• Lycosa contestata Montgomery, 1903 — USA
• Lycosa corallina McKay, 1974 — Australia
• Lycosa coreana Paik, 1994 — Korea
• Lycosa cowlei Hogg, 1896 — Central Australia
• Lycosa cretacea Simon, 1898 — North Africa
• Lycosa dacica (Pavesi, 1898) — Romania
• Lycosa danjiangensis Yin, Zhao & Bao, 1997 — China
• Lycosa dilatata F. O. P.-Cambridge, 1902 — Mexico to El Salvador
• Lycosa dimota Simon, 1909 — Western Australia
• Lycosa discolor Walckenaer, 1837 — USA
• Lycosa duracki McKay, 1975 — Western Australia
• Lycosa elysae Tongiorgi, 1977 — St. Helena
• Lycosa emuncta Banks, 1898 — Mexico
• Lycosa erjianensis Yin & Zhao, 1996 — China
• Lycosa errans Hogg, 1905 — South Australia
• Lycosa erythrognatha Lucas, 1836 — Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina
• Lycosa eutypa Chamberlin, 1925 — Panama
• Lycosa exigua (Roewer, 1960) — Namibia
• Lycosa falconensis Schenkel, 1953 — Venezuela
• Lycosa fernandezi (F. O. P.-Cambridge, 1899) — Juan Fernandez Islands
• Lycosa ferriculosa Chamberlin, 1919 — USA
• Lycosa formosana Saito, 1936 — Taiwan
• Lycosa forresti McKay, 1973 — Western Australia
• Lycosa frigens (Kulczynski, 1916) — Russia
• Lycosa fulviventris (Kroneberg, 1875) — Uzbekistan
• Lycosa fuscana Pocock, 1901 — India
• Lycosa futilis Banks, 1898 — Mexico
• Lycosa geotubalis Tikader & Malhotra, 1980 — India
• Lycosa gibsoni McKay, 1979 — Western Australia
• Lycosa gigantea (Roewer, 1960) — South Africa
• Lycosa gilberta Hogg, 1905 — New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia
• Lycosa gobiensis Schenkel, 1936 — Mongolia, China
• Lycosa godeffroyi L. Koch, 1865 — Australia
• Lycosa goliathus Pocock, 1901 — India
• Lycosa grahami Fox, 1935 — China
• Lycosa granatensis Franganillo, 1925 — Spain
• Lycosa guayaquiliana Mello-Leitão, 1939 — Ecuador
• Lycosa hickmani (Roewer, 1955) — New Guinea, Northern Australia
• Lycosa hildegardae Casanueva, 1980 — Chile
• Lycosa horrida (Keyserling, 1877) — Colombia
• Lycosa howarthi Gertsch, 1973 — Hawaii
• Lycosa illicita Gertsch, 1934 — Mexico
• Lycosa immanis L. Koch, 1879 — Russia
• Lycosa impavida Walckenaer, 1837 — USA
• Lycosa implacida Nicolet, 1849 — Chile
• Lycosa indagatrix Walckenaer, 1837 — India, Sri Lanka
• Lycosa indomita Nicolet, 1849 — Chile
• Lycosa infesta Walckenaer, 1837 — USA
• Lycosa injusta Banks, 1898 — Mexico
• Lycosa innocua Doleschall, 1859 — Amboina
• Lycosa inornata Blackwall, 1862 — Brazil
• Lycosa insulana (Bryant, 1923) — Barbados
• Lycosa insularis Lucas, 1857 — Cuba
• Lycosa intermedialis Roewer, 1955 — Libya
• Lycosa interstitialis (Strand, 1906) — Algeria
• Lycosa inviolata Roewer, 1960 — South Africa
• Lycosa iranii Pocock, 1901 — India
• Lycosa ishikariana (Saito, 1934) — Russia, Japan
• Lycosa isolata Bryant, 1940 — Cuba
• Lycosa jagadalpurensis Gajbe, 2004 — India
• Lycosa kempi Gravely, 1924 — India, Pakistan, Bhutan, China
• Lycosa koyuga McKay, 1979 — Western Australia
• Lycosa labialis Mao & Song, 1985 — China, Korea
• Lycosa labialisoides Peng et al., 1997 — China
• Lycosa laeta L. Koch, 1877 — Eastern Australia
• Lycosa lambai Tikader & Malhotra, 1980 — India
• Lycosa langei Mello-Leitão, 1947 — Brazil
• Lycosa lativulva F. O. P.-Cambridge, 1902 — Guatemala
• Lycosa lebakensis Doleschall, 1859 — Java
• Lycosa leireana Franganillo, 1918 — Spain
• Lycosa leuckarti (Thorell, 1870) — Australia
• Lycosa leucogastra Mello-Leitão, 1944 — Argentina
• Lycosa leucophaeoides (Roewer, 1951) — Queensland
• Lycosa leucophthalma Mello-Leitão, 1940 — Argentina
• Lycosa leucotaeniata (Mello-Leitão, 1947) — Brazil
• Lycosa liliputana Nicolet, 1849 — Chile
• Lycosa longivulva F. O. P.-Cambridge, 1902 — Guatemala
• Lycosa macedonica (Giltay, 1932) — Macedonia
• Lycosa mackenziei Gravely, 1924 — Pakistan, India, Bangladesh
• Lycosa maculata Butt, Anwar & Tahir, 2006 — Pakistan
• Lycosa madagascariensis Vinson, 1863 — Madagascar
• Lycosa madani Pocock, 1901 — India
• Lycosa magallanica Karsch, 1880 — Chile
• Lycosa magnifica Hu, 2001 — China
• Lycosa mahabaleshwarensis Tikader & Malhotra, 1980 — India
• Lycosa malacensis Franganillo, 1926 — Spain
• Lycosa masteri Pocock, 1901 — India
• Lycosa matusitai Nakatsudi, 1943 — Japan to Micronesia
• Lycosa maya Chamberlin, 1925 — Mexico
• Lycosa mexicana Banks, 1898 — Mexico
• Lycosa minae (Dönitz & Strand, 1906) — Japan
• Lycosa molyneuxi Hogg, 1905 — New South Wales
• Lycosa mordax Walckenaer, 1837 — USA
• Lycosa moulmeinensis Gravely, 1924 — Myanmar
• Lycosa mukana Roewer, 1960 — Congo
• Lycosa muntea (Roewer, 1960) — Congo
• Lycosa musgravei McKay, 1974 — New South Wales, Victoria
• Lycosa narbonensis Walckenaer, 1806 — Mediterranean
  • Lycosa narbonensis cisalpina Simon, 1937 — France
• Lycosa niceforoi Mello-Leitão, 1941 — Colombia
• Lycosa nigricans Butt, Anwar & Tahir, 2006 — Pakistan
• Lycosa nigromarmorata Mello-Leitão, 1941 — Colombia
• Lycosa nigropunctata Rainbow, 1915 — South Australia
• Lycosa nigrotaeniata Mello-Leitão, 1941 — Colombia
• Lycosa nigrotibialis Simon, 1884 — India, Bhutan, Myanmar
• Lycosa nilotica Audouin, 1826 — Egypt
• Lycosa nordenskjoldi Tullgren, 1905 — Brazil, Bolivia
• Lycosa ovalata Franganillo, 1930 — Cuba
• Lycosa pachana Pocock, 1898 — Central, Southern Africa
• Lycosa palliata Roewer, 1960 — South Africa
• Lycosa pampeana Holmberg, 1876 — Paraguay, Argentina
• Lycosa paranensis Holmberg, 1876 — Brazil, Argentina
• Lycosa parvipudens Karsch, 1881 — Gilbert Islands
• Lycosa patagonica Simon, 1886 — Chile
• Lycosa pavlovi Schenkel, 1953 — China
• Lycosa perinflata Pulleine, 1922 — South Australia
• Lycosa perkinsi Simon, 1904 — Hawaii
• Lycosa perspicua Roewer, 1960 — South Africa
• Lycosa philadelphiana Walckenaer, 1837 — USA
• Lycosa phipsoni Pocock, 1899 — India to China, Taiwan
  • Lycosa phipsoni leucophora (Thorell, 1887) — Myanmar
• Lycosa pia (Bösenberg & Strand, 1906) — Japan
• Lycosa pictipes (Keyserling, 1891) — Brazil, Argentina
• Lycosa pictula Pocock, 1901 — India
• Lycosa pintoi Mello-Leitão, 1931 — Brazil
• Lycosa piochardi Simon, 1876 — Syria
  • Lycosa piochardi infraclara (Strand, 1915) — Israel
• Lycosa poliostoma (C. L. Koch, 1847) — Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina
• Lycosa poonaensis Tikader & Malhotra, 1980 — India
• Lycosa porteri Simon, 1904 — Chile
• Lycosa praegrandis C. L. Koch, 1836 — Greece to Central Asia
  • Lycosa praegrandis discoloriventer Caporiacco, 1949 — Albania
• Lycosa praestans Roewer, 1960 — Botswana
• Lycosa proletarioides Mello-Leitão, 1941 — Argentina
• Lycosa prolifica Pocock, 1901 — India
• Lycosa properipes Simon, 1909 — Western Australia
• Lycosa pulchella (Thorell, 1881) — New Guinea, Bismarck Archipel
• Lycosa punctiventralis (Roewer, 1951) — Mexico
• Lycosa quadrimaculata Lucas, 1858 — Gabon
• Lycosa rimicola Purcell, 1903 — South Africa
• Lycosa ringens Tongiorgi, 1977 — St. Helena
• Lycosa rostrata Franganillo, 1930 — Cuba
• Lycosa rufimanoides (Strand, 1908) — Bolivia
• Lycosa rufisterna Schenkel, 1953 — China
• Lycosa russea Schenkel, 1953 — China
• Lycosa sabulosa (O. P.-Cambridge, 1885) — Yarkand
• Lycosa salifodina McKay, 1976 — Western Australia
• Lycosa salvadorensis Kraus, 1955 — El Salvador
• Lycosa separata (Roewer, 1960) — Mozambique
• Lycosa septembris (Strand, 1906) — Ethiopia
• Lycosa sericovittata Mello-Leitão, 1939 — Brazil
• Lycosa serranoa Tullgren, 1901 — Chile
• Lycosa shahapuraensis Gajbe, 2004 — India
• Lycosa shaktae Bhandari & Gajbe, 2001 — India
• Lycosa shansia (Hogg, 1912) — China, Mongolia
• Lycosa shillongensis Tikader & Malhotra, 1980 — India
• Lycosa signata Lenz, 1886 — Madagascar
• Lycosa signiventris Banks, 1909 — El Salvador, Costa Rica
• Lycosa sigridae (Strand, 1917) — Mexico
• Lycosa similis Banks, 1892 — USA
• Lycosa singoriensis (Laxmann, 1770) — Palearctic
• Lycosa skeeti Pulleine, 1922 — South Australia
• Lycosa snelli McKay, 1975 — Western Australia
• Lycosa sochoi Mello-Leitão, 1947 — Brazil
• Lycosa spiniformis Franganillo, 1926 — Spain
• Lycosa storeniformis Simon, 1910 — Guinea-Bissau
• Lycosa storri McKay, 1973 — Western Australia
• Lycosa subfusca F. O. P.-Cambridge, 1902 — Mexico, Costa Rica
• Lycosa subhirsuta L. Koch, 1882 — Mallorca
• Lycosa suzukii Yaginuma, 1960 — Russia, China, Korea, Japan
• Lycosa sylvatica (Roewer, 1951) — Algeria
• Lycosa tarantula
  Lycosa tarantula
  The tarantula wolf spider or just tarantula is a wolf spider found in southern Europe, especially in Italy and near the city of Taranto...
  
  (Linnaeus, 1758) — Southeastern Europe, Mediterranean, Near East
  • Lycosa tarantula carsica Caporiacco, 1949 — Italy
• Lycosa tarantuloides Perty, 1833 — Brazil
• Lycosa tasmanicola Roewer, 1960 — Tasmania
• Lycosa teranganicola (Strand, 1911) — Aru Islands
• Lycosa terrestris Butt, Anwar & Tahir, 2006 — Pakistan
• Lycosa tetrophthalma Mello-Leitão, 1939 — Paraguay
• Lycosa thoracica Patel & Reddy, 1993 — India
• Lycosa thorelli (Keyserling, 1877) — Colombia to Argentina
• Lycosa tista Tikader, 1970 — India
• Lycosa transversa F. O. P.-Cambridge, 1902 — Guatemala
• Lycosa trichopus (Roewer, 1960) — Afghanistan
• Lycosa tula (Strand, 1913) — Western Australia
• Lycosa u-album Mello-Leitão, 1938 — Argentina
• Lycosa vachoni Guy, 1966 — Algeria
• Lycosa vellutina Mello-Leitão, 1941 — Colombia
• Lycosa ventralis F. O. P.-Cambridge, 1902 — Mexico
• Lycosa virgulata Franganillo, 1920 — Portugal
• Lycosa vittata Yin, Bao & Zhang, 1995 — China
• Lycosa wadaiensis Roewer, 1960 — Chad
• Lycosa wangi Yin, Peng & Wang, 1996 — China
• Lycosa woonda McKay, 1979 — Western Australia
• Lycosa wroughtoni Pocock, 1899 — India
• Lycosa wulsini Fox, 1935 — China
• Lycosa yalkara McKay, 1979 — Western Australia
• Lycosa yerburyi Pocock, 1901 — Sri Lanka
• Lycosa yizhangensis Yin, Peng & Wang, 1996 — China
• Lycosa yunnanensis Yin, Peng & Wang, 1996 — China

External links

• Picture of L. carolinensis (free for noncommercial use)
• The world spider catalog, version 8.5. American Museum of Natural

Lycosa - arachnos.eu
History. Accessed 2008-07-12.