This is a beautifully detailed engraving of a group of wolf-spiders including the Tarantula - Lycosa andrenivora, Lycosa tarantula, Lycosa sccita (male and female). The Tarantula spider (Lycosa tarantula) is from the area around a city in Italy now called Taranto but called Tarentum in Roman times. This spider has an interesting and mainly undeserved reputation. It is traditionally believed that the bite of this spider produces severe symptoms called tarantism, and that a person must be treated by indulging in a special kind of dancing - the tarantella. The bites of this spider, however, are not known to cause severe symptoms in humans. The Tarantula is large (female 1 inch body length & males around .75 inch). As with other wolf spiders, 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. (Wikipedia)