126 SPIDERS [CH. 



these wasps is to remove it from its natural environ- 

 ment. A garden-spider in its web, or a burrowing 

 spider in its tunnel are more or less formidable, but 

 if the one can be thrown down, or the other dragged 

 forth into the open, they are well-nigh defenceless. 

 Therefore in attacking an Epeirid the wasp first darts 

 at it, seizes a leg, and attempts to jerk it out of the 

 web. If unsuccessful, the spider will now be on its 

 guard, and the wasp leaves it and tries the same 

 manoeuvre on another individual. Taken by surprise, 

 it is instantly thrown to the ground, and can then 

 offer no effectual resistance. Even the large " bird- 

 eaters ' fall victims to these terrible foes. 



CHAPTER XV 



SOME CONCLUDING REFLEXIONS 



IN the foregoing pages we have been able to deal 

 with very few out of the vast number of known 

 spiders ; yet the examples we have chosen for study 

 are fairly typical of some of the more important 

 groups, and calculated to give a tolerably just idea of 

 the general economy of the tribe. In any case even 

 such a fragmentary study as the present gives us food 

 for thought. There is a question which the writer 

 has so often been asked that he is inclined to deal 



