14 BEES AND WASPS [OH. 



actual burial spot and the reed now some eight inches 

 away, running distractedly to and fro between them. 

 When the reed was replaced in its original site her 

 excitement was intense, and the spider was promptly 

 exhumed without further delay. In some cases the 

 possession of a spider appears to upset the mental 

 balance, or at any rate the sense and memory of 

 direction ; for one stupid individual who was always 

 able to run home without her spider invariably lost 



Fig. 1. Pompilus viatlciis 

 (about twice natural size) 



her way and failed to reach the desired goal when 

 dragging her prey. Regret was impossible when 

 another and presumably a cleverer P. plumbeus 

 robbed her of her spider, buried the booty and 

 eventually conveyed it successfully to her own 

 nursery-larder. 



On inland sandy heaths two of the largest Pom- 

 pilids to be found are P. maticus and P. rufipes. 



