Tarantula wolf spider

Appearance

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These spiders are rather large, the females being as large as 30 mm in body length and the males around 19 mm . As with other wolf spiders, the silken sac containing over one hundred eggs is carried attached to the mother's spinnerets, and then after they hatch the baby spiders climb on their mother's abdomen and ride around with her for some time until they are sufficiently mature to survive on their own. 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 two years, and they die some time after reaching sexual maturity. The females can live for four years or more. 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 it is unlikely that people would encounter them. Unlike the Salticidae , which may exhibit curiosity about humans and may be content to wander around on one's hand, the Lycosidae have a very strong tendency to flee at the approach of any large animal. They have quite good eyesight, so it is unlikely that a human could approach them unseen, and it is relatively difficult to capture them because they keep moving and can run very fast. It is unlikely that humans could come in unintentional contact with them. 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.

Naming

* ''Lycosa tarantula carsica'' — Italy
⤷  ''Lycosa tarantula cisalpina'' Simon, 1937 — France

Defense

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In common with all other spiders ''Lycosa tarantula'' possess venom. Venom is important to the spider as a means to kill its prey, and, secondarily, to protect itself. Evolutionarily, the venoms were tailored for subduing insect prey, and mammal species can have vastly different reactions to the same spider venom. ''Lycosa tarantula'' will rarely bite, unless continually provoked, and the venom of the ''Lycosidae'' is not particularly toxic to human beings, and is no more painful than the sting of a bee. Fabre however, did demonstrate that an artificially administered tarantula bite can kill small mammals and birds.

Given the low toxicity of wolf spider bites and the small likelihood of actually being bitten, medical research efforts have not been directed toward the bites of ''Lycosa tarantula''.