236 Beautiful Nidus of a Spider 



must enter by an effort to obtain the pollen ; the position of 

 which on the anthers, and the form of the stamens and anthers 

 themselves, are such that her former experience would avail 

 her little. If from the gorse she were to be sent to the daisy, 

 from the daisy to the hawthorn, and so on ; such a jack of all 

 trades would do little good. But, no question, things are 

 better ordered among bees ; for we find throughout all na- 

 ture a beautiful adaptation and most wonderful economy ; one 

 single operation often tending to several effects. 



Selkirk, Nov. 1831. W. L. 



Art. X. On a beautiful Nidus of a Spider, arid a Hymenopterous 

 Parasite found within it. By A. H. Davis, Esq. F.L.S. 



Sir, 



During a stay of some weeks at Wanstead, in Essex, last 

 summer, I met with four specimens of the beautiful nidus 

 described and figured in your Magazine. (Vol. II. p. 104.) In 

 every instance, however, mine were attached to the trunks of 

 trees, full 6 ft. from the ground. The first I took about the 

 middle of June, and the remaining three towards the close of 

 that month, or very early in July. They were pendulous, 

 and firmly fixed to the bark by silken cords, which extended 

 a considerable distance from the narrow neck of the nests. I 

 placed them near to the fire, to destroy the inhabitants, being 

 anxious to secure the nests without injury. They are cer- 

 tainly of most exquisite workmanship ; their colour the 

 purest white, and their texture resembling tough silver or tis- 

 sue paper, but of a more silky character. 



Being anxious to ascertain whether the opinions of your 

 correspondents were correct *, in considering them as the 

 work of spiders, sanctioned, too, as they were, by the com- 

 munication of so able an entomologist as the Rev. Mr. Kirby f, 

 I resolved on opening one of the nests. A few days since, I 

 accordingly divided one longitudinally, and, to my great sur- 

 prise, I found, in the broadest portion of the cavity, a hymen- 

 opterous insect, at first somewhat resembling Cynips aptera, 

 but not one fourth its size, and, like that, destitute of wings; 

 but, on subsequent examination, it appeared more nearly 

 allied to the /chneumonidae. Whether, in separating the 

 nidus, I had the misfortune to sever the head, I know not ; 

 but on afterwards placing the insect on card, that important 

 portion was missing. I deeply regret that its decapitation 

 prevents my referring it with certainty to any genus. The 



* Vol. II. p. 104. Vol. III. p. 458. t Vol. II. p. 405. 



