A name applied to Italy's wolf spider, to some Asiatic spiders, and to various species of large, dark, hairy spiders found in the warmer climes of the Americas.

The second Tarantula (SP-124)-a motor yacht built in 1912 at Neponset, Mass., by George Lawley and Son Corp.-was acquired by the Navy on 25 April 1917 from W. K. Vanderbilt of New York City. Assigned to section patrol in the 3 d Naval District during World War 1, Tarantula operated along the coastal waters of Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey until October 1918. On 28 October, she sank about eight miles southwest of the Fire Island light vessel after colliding with the Royal Holland Lloyd Line steamship SS Frisia. Her name was subsequently struck from the Navy list.