Ta*ran"tu*la (?), n.; pl. E.
Tarantulas (#), L. Tarantulæ (#).
[NL., fr. It. tarantola, fr. L. Tarentum, now Taranto,
in the south of Italy.] (Zoöl.) Any one of several species
of large spiders, popularly supposed to be very venomous, especially the
European species (Tarantula apuliæ). The tarantulas of Texas
and adjacent countries are large species of Mygale. [Written also
tarentula.]
Tarantula killer, a very large wasp (Pompilus
formosus), which captures the Texan tarantula (Mygale Hentzii)
and places it in its nest as food for its young, after paralyzing it by a
sting.