What Does tarantula Mean
Tarantula is a term that comes from the Latin word tarantŭla , which in turn derives from Tarentum . This notion, on the other hand, refers to the Italian town of Taranto ( region of Apulia ).
The concept is used to name the spiders that are part of the licoside family . These arachnids live in large numbers in the Taranto area due to the city's climate : hence their name.
Tarantulas are characterized by their rounded body on the abdomen and covered with hairs on the thorax. These are poisonous spiders, whose bite causes swelling although it is not serious for people as was believed in ancient times.
Popular belief was that a tarantula bite provoked tarantism : a convulsive agitation with profound discomfort. Tradition indicated that, to combat tarantism, one had to perform frenzied movements known as taranta . Over time , a dance that imitates these movements was baptized as a tarantella .
Typically, the idea of a tarantula refers specifically to the Lycosa tarantula . This animal , which can be about 30 millimeters long, lives in caves and among rocks. The females, larger than the males, can live for about four years, while the males only live half that time.
The family of licósidos , of araneomorphic spiders (a suborder of spiders characterized by having chelicerae arranged diagonally, which intersect at their ends) includes the aforementioned Lycosa , which in the European continent is generally known as tarantula, although this is not entirely correct and may lead to some confusion.
Analyzing the etymology of the term lycos we discover that it is a term of Greek origin that can be translated as "wolf", and this is reflected in the name that this family has received in more than one language, such as English, in which they are known as "wolf spiders." As mentioned above, spiders belonging to this family are often called tarantula in everyday speech.
Thanks to the poison , tarantulas can hunt their prey. When a tarantula bites a human being , it can cause inflammation, as we said above, but not major complications.
Not all human beings fear tarantulas; in fact, some decide to keep them as pets, although this deprives them of their freedom, as happens with fish, iguanas and mice, since they keep them trapped in small glass structures. Although they would not be able to escape from a cage, their "guardians" prefer glass in many cases to protect themselves from the attack of some genera, such as Brachypelma and Grammostola , which consists of throwing stinging hairs to defend themselves from predators , and which can generate serious discomfort in the epidermis, inflame the mucous membranes if they enter through the nostrils or great damage if they come into contact with the eyes.
Regarding its diet, the tarantula can hunt a wide variety of insects, including cockroaches and grasshoppers, but it is also capable of killing certain rodents. The high protein content of your diet is a key point to successfully shedding your skin, and it also helps you stay without eating for up to five days.
The tarantula usually changes its exoskeleton twice a year, and it is a very delicate phenomenon, especially if it does not live in its natural habitat . When this process does not take place correctly, generally due to inappropriate human intervention, the animal can lose its life. One of the most important factors is temperature: the tarantula prefers heat, and it is essential to reproduce as closely as possible the climate it needs to survive.