Lycosa

{{Short description|Genus of spiders}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Palaeogene|present}}

| image = Lycosa aragogi.jpg

| image_caption = Lycosa aragogi (female)

| taxon = Lycosa

| authority = Latreille, 1804{{citation |title=Gen. Lycosa Latreille, 1804 |work=World Spider Catalog |publisher=Natural History Museum Bern |url=https://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/genus/1823 |access-date=2020-11-03 }}

| range_map =

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text.

}}

Lycosa is a genus of wolf spiders distributed throughout most of the world. 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.

As of November 2020, more than 200 species in this genus had been described.Planas, E., Fernández-Montraveta, C., & Ribera, C. (2013). [http://bbcd.bio.uniroma1.it/clone_bbcd/sites/default/files/file%20lezioni/LycosaBiogeography.pdf Molecular systematics of the wolf spider genus Lycosa (Araneae: Lycosidae) in the Western Mediterranean Basin.] Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 67(2), 414-428.

File:Starr 020625-0014 Trisetum glomeratum.jpg carrying young]]

File:Lycosa leuckarti 03.jpg]]

File:Lycosidae - Lycosa narbonensis.jpg]]

File:Lycosa singoriensis 03.jpg]]

File:PSM V50 D395 Lycosa tarantula.jpg

File:CSIRO ScienceImage 2414 A Mother Godeffroys Wolf Spider with Spiderlings.jpg carrying young]]

Species list

{{As of|2020|November}}, the World Spider Catalog accepted the following species:

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References

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