Often (incorrectly) called the "true tarantula", Lycosa 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. There is no scientific substantiation of that myth; the venom of Lycosa spiders is generally not harmful.
As of 2013 there are 223 described species in this genus.
Spider aranha lycosa
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 F. 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
