6i Observations upon the Tarantula. 



tion, I have been unavoidably led to give them at greater 

 length, in order that they might accord with the present con- 

 dition of science. 



Let us, at first, turn our attention to the determination of 

 the species of the true tarantula. This spider belongs to the 

 genus Lycosa, founded by Latreille. The southern coun- 

 tries of Europe are the abode of a considerable number of 

 species of this genus, which have never yet been studied suf- 

 ficiently. But it must be confessed that this study is accom- 

 panied with considerable difficulty, both because the species 

 vary with respect to their size and the shades of their colours, 

 according to their age, and even according to their locality ; 

 and because it is necessary, on account of the softness and 

 changeableness of their texture, to observe them alive. 



Considered with regard to their habits (and these are a 

 result, a consequence of their organisation), the Lycoste may 

 be divided into two sections. Those of the first section, which 

 are generally larger, more robust, and more industrious, in- 

 habit subterranean intrenchments, regular burrows, which 

 they dig for themselves. We might call these cunieular, 

 or mining, Lycosa?. Those of the second remain more ha- 

 bitually upon the surface of the soil, and merely seek a refuge 

 either in fissures in the earth, or among stones and tangled 

 fragments. They would deserve the name of wandering, or 

 vagrant, Lycosae. 



The Lycosa which makes the principal subject of my ob- 

 servations belongs to the first section. I have studied it in 

 the different countries of Spain ; that is to say, in the centre 

 of the Peninsula, at Madrid, at Tudela; in Navarre, which is 

 to the north ; in Valencia, situated to the east ; and I have re- 

 ceived it fromCadiz, which is the southern point of Spain. The 

 specimens of these last-mentioned places have not presented 

 to me any traits which might constitute, in the eyes of a scru- 

 pulous entomologist, I will not say species, but even remark- 

 able varieties. There existed between them only some slight 

 differences in the size of the body, or in the shades of the 

 covering ; and often these variations are to be observed even 

 in those of the same territory. From the comparison of dif- 

 ferent specimens of this Lycosa, the conviction has arisen in 

 my mind that it is the true tarantula of the ancients, that of 

 all the authors who have written upon Tarentismus, that of 

 Baglivi, Linnaeus, Fabricius, Olivier, &c. I hope shortly to 

 impress the same conviction upon the minds of my readers. 

 But, before I enter upon this critical examination, I will at- 

 tempt a description and specific designation of the Lycosa in 

 question. 



