Tarantism is a form of hysterical behavior originating in Southern Italy, popularly believed to result from the bite of the wolf spider Lycosa tarantula, though a better candidate cause is the Mediterranean black widow, Latrodectus tredecimguttatus, despite no demonstrated link ever found between such bites and the behavior. The term historically refers to a dancing mania characteristic of Southern Italy that likely had little to do with spider bites at all, and the tarantella dance is supposed to have evolved from a therapy devised for tarantism.
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Source Wikipedia: Tarantism
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1. Wikipedia: Tarantism
- Wikipedia Tarantism lead paragraph: form of hysteric behaviour, dancing mania characteristic of Southern Italy
- en.wikipedia.org: Tarantism
In Branch: Abnormal Psychology, Lead section
Tarantism ( TERR-ən-tiz-əm) is a form of hysteric behaviour originating in Southern Italy, popularly believed to result from the bite of the wolf spider Lycosa tarantula (distinct from the broad class of spiders also called tarantulas).
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