Tarantula (the spider)
Nowadays approximately 900 types of tarantulas have been identified. But the original was a spider whose name goes back to the Italian town of Taranto where wolf spiders live. And the word has been used in English now for almost 500 years. The Venezuelan tarantula is the largest is the world, almost 30 cm in length.
Tarantella (the dance)
In the Middle Ages dancing was generally forbidden in Italy. As a pleasure enjoyed by both man and woman, it could lead to sin. In the city of Taranto there was a dance called the Tarantella. Those dancing claimed it was the remedy for a mildly poisonous spider bite. The locals could thus do the spider dance without coming into conflict with the church.
