tarantula
As a tarantula mainly various large-growing are spiders of the family Lycosidae (wolf spiders) and more rarely individual species from the family of tarantulas (Theraphosidae) referred, however, the term "Tarantula" is not regarded as synonymous with the tarantulas as such. This incorrect and often used assumption stems from the English-language term "tarantula" for tarantulas, which is often incorrectly translated into German as "tarantula". The name has its origins in the first description of the Apulian tarantula Lycosa tarantula , which was first described by Carl von Linné in 1758 as Aranea tarantula and was carried under various synonyms (including Tarentula apuliae Koch , 1850) in the no longer used genus Tarentula .
The name is derived from the Italian city of Taranto , the name Apulian tarantula from the entire Apulia region , from which it was originally known.
Symptoms of poisoning and also the dance rage (St. Vitus's dance ) were previously attributed to the tarantula's bite ( tarantism ). This was also reflected in the saying “as if stung by the tarantula”. The justification has recently been questioned, because the poisonous effect of the animals is relatively weak. It probably seemed more credible that the severe poisoning was caused by a correspondingly large spider ( Lycosa tarantula has a body length of about 2.5 to 3 cm and is about the size of a palm , including its legs). In fact, most of the serious poisonings were caused by the significantly more toxic, but relatively small European Black Widows with a length of about one centimeter and with relatively short, thin legs . Derived from the dance craze, or rather this as a superstitious "remedy" against the symptoms of poisoning, the tarantella , a southern Italian dance in 6/8 time, has probably become a popular dance.
Tarantula in other languages
A linguistic problem related to the tarantula arose during the colonization of the New World . Conquerors who knew tarantulas from southern Europe transferred this name to the tarantulas in America, which were unknown to them , because they are similar in size or even larger, which is rarely the case with spiders in Europe. Thus, the trivial name has become naturalized in spite of being systematically completely incorrect. The name was adopted into English and has remained to this day. The so-called tarantulas in the German-speaking area are called in American English and in Australia, according to the common name of the Lycosidae family, wolf spiders (wolf spiders). In Great Britain, the term bird-eating spiders has become common for tarantulas .
By translating back from English, however, the (incorrect) literal translation is removed by ignorant people . Thus, the names in scientifically questionable literature and in poorly translated documentation are twisted, so that tarantulas are referred to as tarantulas, which in the general population leads to an incorrect equation of the two groups of spiders.
Spiders called tarantula (selection)
Some large species of wolf spiders have the common German term tarantula in their names:
- The prickly panther spider ( Alopecosa aculeata ), also known as the dark brown tarantula or Boreomontane pseudo-tarantula, European species. With a body length of no more than 11 millimeters, it is one of the smaller tarantulas.
- The thick-footed panther spider or wedge-shaped tarantula ( Alopecosa cuneata ), European species. With a maximum length of 9 millimeters, it is one of the smaller tarantulas.
- The dune tarantula ( Alopecosa fabrilis ), European species. With a length of 16 millimeters, it is one of the larger species of the genus, but is therefore also smaller than other tarantulas.
- The dark panther spider or meadow tarantula ( Alopecosa pulverulenta ), European species. Similar to the closely related thick-footed panther spider with a maximum length of 10 millimeters, it belongs to the smaller tarantulas.
- The barbed tarantula ( Alopecosa trabalis ) lives in Central Europe, but at 11 millimeters for males and 15 millimeters for females, it is somewhat smaller than the other large wolf spiders in Europe.
- The Deserta tarantula ( Hogna ingens ) is the largest spider species in Europe at up to 40 millimeters. She lives on the small island of Deserta Grande, which belongs to Portugal .
- The black-bellied tarantula ( Hogna radiata ) is up to 25 millimeters in size and lives in the Mediterranean areas as far as South Tyrol. There are also rumors about her, according to which she attacks people sleeping in tents at night and inflicts bite wounds that are difficult to heal.
- The Porto Santo tarantula ( Hogna schmitzi ) grows up to 30 millimeters and is one of the largest spiders in Europe. It is endemic to the eponymous island of Porto Santo, which belongs to Portugal .
- The South Russian tarantula ( Lycosa singoriensis ) grows up to 35 millimeters, making it the second largest spider in Europe. It occurs from Lake Neusiedl in Austria to southern Russia and the eastern Mediterranean region.
- The Apulian tarantula ( Lycosa tarantula ) is 30 millimeters tall and was named by Carl von Linné after the Italian city of Taranto in 1758 . Tales of her poison bite are mostly due to confusion with the European black widow. It is the best known species, which has the name tarantula in its common name, and it was also the first.
literature
- Heiko Bellmann: Cosmos Atlas Arachnids of Europe . Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co., Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-440-07025-5 .
- Franz Renner: Spiders: tremendously - sympathetic . Verlag Rainar Nitzsche, Kaiserslautern 1991, ISBN 3-9802102-0-0 .
