Lycosa is a genus of wolf spiders distributed throughout most of the world, with more than two hundred described species.
Sometimes called the "true tarantula", though not closely related to the spiders most commonly called tarantulas today, Lycosa spp. can be distinguished from common wolf spiders by their relatively large size. This genus includes the European Lycosa tarantula, which was once associated with tarantism, a dubious affliction whose symptoms included shaking, cold sweats, and a high fever, asserted to be curable only by the traditional tarantella dance. No scientific substantiation of that myth is known; the venom of Lycosa spiders is generally not harmful.
Life style Species of Lycosa spin no web. The larger forms live in silk-lined burrows and under stones. Females carry the cocoon attached to their spinnerets, and after hatching the young swarm on the mother's back.
Description
The carapace is long with a vertical facial area and slanting sides. The four posterior eyes are large and arranged in a quadrangle that is slightly wider behind than in front. In Lycosa, the eyes of the second row are larger than those of the third row.
The labium is always longer than wide with a prominent basal excavation that occupies usually one-third or more of the labium's length. The clypeus is not vertical.
The legs have tibiae I and II armed with three pairs of ventral spines. Metatarsus IV of leg IV is never longer than the tibia plus patella together.
Taxonomy The main diagnostic characters considered by Zyuzin and Logunov include the large size and the tongue-shaped septum of the epigyne with an elongated anterior part. The male palp of Lycosa currently includes many medium to large wolf spiders that are not congeneric with the type species L. tarantula, making Lycosa undoubtedly a polyphyletic taxon.
Species
, this genus includes 213 species and five subspecies.
These species have articles on Wikipedia:
Lycosa aragogi Nadolny & Zamani, 2017 – Iran
Lycosa bistriata Gravely, 1924 – Pakistan, India, Bhutan
Lycosa capensis Simon, 1898 – South Africa
Lycosa connexa Roewer, 1960 – South Africa
Lycosa dacica (Pavesi, 1898) – Romania
Lycosa erythrognatha Lucas, 1836 – Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina
Lycosa gigantea (Roewer, 1960) – South Africa
Lycosa howarthi Gertsch, 1973 – Hawaii
Lycosa indagatrix Walckenaer, 1837 – India, Sri Lanka
Lycosa inviolata Roewer, 1960 – South Africa
Lycosa pachana Pocock, 1898 – Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa
Lycosa palliata Roewer, 1960 – South Africa
Lycosa perspicua Roewer, 1960 – South Africa
Lycosa rimicola Purcell, 1903 – South Africa
Lycosa shillongensis Tikader & Malhotra, 1980 – India
Lycosa singoriensis (Laxmann, 1770) – Central to eastern Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to South Siberia), Iran, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, China, Korea
Lycosa tarantula (Linnaeus, 1758) – France, Italy, Balkans, Turkey, Middle East (type species)
Lycosa yerburyi Pocock, 1901 – Sri Lanka
Lycosa abidae Sherwood, 2025 – Pakistan
Lycosa abnormis Guy, 1966 – Morocco
Lycosa accurata (Becker, 1886) – Mexico
Lycosa adusta Banks, 1898 – Mexico
Lycosa affinis Lucas, 1846 – Algeria
Lycosa apacha Chamberlin, 1925 – United States
Lycosa approximata (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885) – China (Yarkand)
Lycosa aragogi Nadolny & Zamani, 2017 – Iran
Lycosa arambagensis B. Biswas & K. Biswas, 1992 – India
Lycosa ariadnae McKay, 1979 – Australia (Western Australia)
Lycosa articulata Costa, 1875 – Israel
Lycosa airy Hogg, 1896 – Central Australia
Lycosa auroguttata (Keyserling, 1891) – Brazil
Lycosa australicola (Strand, 1913) – Australia (Western Australia, Northern Territory)
Lycosa australis Simon, 1884 – Chile
Lycosa balaramai Patel & Reddy, 1993 – India
Lycosa barnesi Gravely, 1924 – India
Lycosa baulnyi Simon, 1876 – North Africa
Lycosa bedeli Simon, 1876 – North Africa
Lycosa beihaiensis Yin, Bao & Zhang, 1995 – China
Lycosa bezzii Mello-Leitão, 1944 – Argentina
Lycosa biolleyi Banks, 1909 – Costa Rica
Lycosa bistriata Gravely, 1924 – Pakistan, India, Bhutan
Lycosa boninensis Tanaka, 1989 – Taiwan, Japan, Korea
Lycosa bonneti Guy & Carricaburu, 1967 – Algeria
Lycosa brunnea F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902 – Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico
Lycosa caenosa Rainbow, 1899 – New Caledonia, Vanuatu
Lycosa canescens Schenkel, 1963 – China
Lycosa capensis Simon, 1898 – South Africa
Lycosa carbonelli Costa & Capocasale, 1984 – Uruguay
Lycosa carmichaeli Gravely, 1924 – India, Bhutan
Lycosa cerrofloresiana Petrunkevitch, 1925 – El Salvador to Panama
Lycosa chaperi Simon, 1885 – Pakistan, India
Lycosa choudhuryi Tikader & Malhotra, 1980 – India, China
Lycosa cingara (C. L. Koch, 1847) – Egypt
Lycosa coelestis L. Koch, 1878 – China, Korea, Japan
Lycosa connexa Roewer, 1960 – South Africa
Lycosa contestata Montgomery, 1903 – United States
Lycosa corallina McKay, 1974 – Australia (Western 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. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902 – Mexico to El Salvador
Lycosa dimota Simon, 1909 – Australia (Western Australia)
Lycosa discolor Walckenaer, 1837 – United States
Lycosa airy Zamani & Nadolny, 2022 – Iran
Lycosa emuncta Banks, 1898 – Mexico
Lycosa erjianensis Yin & Zhao, 1996 – China
Lycosa erythrognatha Lucas, 1836 – Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina
Lycosa eutypa Chamberlin, 1925 – Panama
Lycosa falconensis Schenkel, 1953 – Venezuela
Lycosa fasciiventris Dufour, 1835 – Portugal, Spain, Morocco
Lycosa fernandezi (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899) – Chile (Juan Fernandez Is.)
Lycosa ferriculosa Chamberlin, 1919 – United States
Lycosa formosana Saito, 1936 – Taiwan
Lycosa fuscana Pocock, 1901 – India
Lycosa futilis Banks, 1898 – Mexico
Lycosa geotubalis Tikader & Malhotra, 1980 – India
Lycosa gesserit Armiach Steinpress, Cohen, Pétillon, Chipman & Gavish-Regev, 2022 – Israel
Lycosa gibsoni McKay, 1979 – Australia (Western Australia)
Lycosa gigantea (Roewer, 1960) – South Africa
Lycosa gobiensis Schenkel, 1936 – Mongolia, China
Lycosa goliathus Pocock, 1901 – India
Lycosa grahami Fox, 1935 – China
Lycosa gravelyi Biswas & Raychaudhuri, 2014 – Bangladesh
Lycosa guayaquiliana Mello-Leitão, 1939 – Ecuador
Lycosa hickmani (Roewer, 1955) – New Guinea, Australia (Northern Australia)
Lycosa hildegardae Casanueva, 1980 – Chile
Lycosa hispanica (Walckenaer, 1837) – Spain
L. h. dufouri (Simon, 1876) – Portugal, Spain
Lycosa horrida (Keyserling, 1877) – Colombia
Lycosa howarthi Gertsch, 1973 – Hawaii
Lycosa hyraculus Armiach Steinpress, Cohen, Pétillon, Chipman & Gavish-Regev, 2022 – Egypt, Israel
Lycosa illicita Gertsch, 1934 – Mexico
Lycosa immanis L. Koch, 1879 – Russia (West Siberia, Far East)
Lycosa impavida Walckenaer, 1837 – United States
Lycosa implacida Nicolet, 1849 – Chile
Lycosa indagatrix Walckenaer, 1837 – India, Sri Lanka
Lycosa indomita Nicolet, 1849 – Chile
Lycosa infesta Walckenaer, 1837 – United States
Lycosa injusta Banks, 1898 – Mexico
Lycosa innocua Doleschall, 1859 – Indonesia (Ambon)
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 (Sakhalin, Kurile Is.), Japan
Lycosa isolata Bryant, 1940 – Cuba
Lycosa jagadalpurensis Gajbe, 2004 – India
Lycosa japhlongensis Biswas & Raychaudhuri, 2014 – Bangladesh
Lycosa kempi Gravely, 1924 – Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, China
Lycosa koyuga McKay, 1979 – Australia (Western Australia)
Lycosa kuryk Esyunin & Efimik, 2025 – Kazakhstan
Lycosa labialis Mao & Song, 1985 – China, Korea
Lycosa labialisoides Peng, Yin, Zhang & Kim, 1997 – China
Lycosa laeta L. Koch, 1877 – Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales)
Lycosa lambai Tikader & Malhotra, 1980 – India
Lycosa lativulva F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902 – Guatemala
Lycosa lebakensis Doleschall, 1859 – Indonesia (Java)
Lycosa leucogastra Mello-Leitão, 1944 – Argentina
Lycosa leucophaeoides (Roewer, 1951) – Australia (Queensland)
Lycosa leucophthalma Mello-Leitão, 1940 – Argentina
Lycosa leucotaeniata (Mello-Leitão, 1947) – Brazil
Lycosa liliputana Nicolet, 1849 – Chile
Lycosa longivulva F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902 – Guatemala
Lycosa mackenziei Gravely, 1924 – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh
Lycosa macrophthalma Nadolny & Zamani, 2020 – Iran
Lycosa madagascariensis Vinson, 1863 – Madagascar
Lycosa madani Pocock, 1901 – Pakistan, India
Lycosa magallanica Karsch, 1880 – Chile
Lycosa magnifica Hu, 2001 – China
Lycosa mahabaleshwarensis Tikader & Malhotra, 1980 – India
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 mordax Walckenaer, 1837 – United States
Lycosa moulmeinensis Gravely, 1924 – Myanmar
Lycosa mukana Roewer, 1960 – DR Congo
Lycosa munieri Simon, 1876 – North Africa, Spain (Balearic Is.), Italy (Sardinia)
Lycosa muntea (Roewer, 1960) – Congo
Lycosa niceforoi Mello-Leitão, 1941 – Colombia
Lycosa nigricans Butt, Anwar & Tahir, 2006 – Pakistan
Lycosa nigromarmorata Mello-Leitão, 1941 – Colombia
Lycosa nigropunctata Rainbow, 1915 – Australia (South Australia)
Lycosa nigrotaeniata Mello-Leitão, 1941 – Colombia
Lycosa nigrotibialis Simon, 1884 – India, Bhutan, Myanmar
Lycosa nordenskjoldi Tullgren, 1905 – Brazil, Bolivia
Lycosa oculata Simon, 1876 – Western Mediterranean
Lycosa pachana Pocock, 1898 – Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa
Lycosa palliata Roewer, 1960 – South Africa
Lycosa pampeana Holmberg, 1876 – Paraguay, Argentina
Lycosa paranensis Holmberg, 1876 – Brazil, Argentina
Lycosa parvipudens Karsch, 1881 – Kiribati (Gilbert Is.)
Lycosa patagonica Simon, 1886 – Chile
Lycosa pavlovi Schenkel, 1953 – China
Lycosa perkinsi Simon, 1904 – Hawaii
Lycosa perspicua Roewer, 1960 – South Africa
Lycosa philadelphiana Walckenaer, 1837 – United States
Lycosa phipsoni Pocock, 1899 – India to China, Taiwan
L. p. leucophora (Thorell, 1887) – Myanmar
Lycosa pia (Bösenberg & Strand, 1906) – Japan
Lycosa picta Biswas & Raychaudhuri, 2014 – Bangladesh
Lycosa pictipes (Keyserling, 1891) – Brazil, Argentina
Lycosa pictula Pocock, 1901 – India
Lycosa pintoi Mello-Leitão, 1931 – Brazil
Lycosa piochardi Simon, 1876 – Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran
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 – Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Ukraine, Russia (Europe), Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Iran, Central Asia
L. p. discoloriventer Caporiacco, 1949 – Albania
Lycosa praestans Roewer, 1960 – Botswana
Lycosa proletarioides Mello-Leitão, 1941 – Argentina
Lycosa prolifica Pocock, 1901 – India
Lycosa pulchella (Thorell, 1881) – New Guinea, Papua New Guinea (Bismarck Arch.)
Lycosa punctiventralis (Roewer, 1951) – Mexico
Lycosa quadrimaculata Lucas, 1858 – Gabon
Lycosa rimicola Purcell, 1903 – South Africa
Lycosa rufisterna Schenkel, 1953 – China
Lycosa russea Schenkel, 1953 – China
Lycosa sabulosa (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885) – China (Yarkand), and Tjikistan, Afghanistan
Lycosa salifodina McKay, 1976 – Australia (Western Australia)