WASPS, SOCIAL AND SOLITARY 



heels again, and the scene was repeated. The object 

 of the robber was to seize a leg of the spider, and when- 

 ever she succeeded in doing this she jerked it free, and 

 made off with it very rapidly ; but when the owner pur- 

 sued and caught up with her she relinquished the prize 

 without a struggle. Why did she? She was the bigger 

 and the stronger, and possession is nine points of the 

 law in Waspland as elsewhere ; but conscience made a 

 coward of her, while the other was strong in her right- 

 eous cause. After a time we captured the little pirate; 

 but now the nerves of the rightful owner were completely 

 upset, and she flew away, deserting the spider for which 

 she had battled so bravely. 



The most interesting thing about fuscipennis is her 

 habit of biting the legs of her victims. The instinct is 

 very irregularly developed, since four out of ten spiders 

 had not lost any legs, while the others had been deprived 

 of one or two. No one who has watched the wasp can 

 doubt that the habit is related to the fact that she makes 

 a very small nest in comparison to the size of her prey. 

 The spider never went in easily, always requiring to be 

 shifted and turned and tugged at. There was an especial 

 tendency to bite at the legs at this point of time, when 

 the wasp, standing within the tunnel, was trying to drag 

 the spider down. In one instance she managed to get 



220 



