102 



HYMENOPTERA 



CHAP. 



enraged at the audacity of its persecutor. The Calicurgus will 

 not actually enter a burrow when there is a spider in it, 

 because if it did so the spider would speedily dispose of the 

 aggressor by the aid of its poisonous fangs. The Calicurgus, 

 therefore, has recourse to strategy with the object of getting 

 the spider out of its nest ; the wasp seizes its redoubtable 



foe by one foot and pulls ; 

 probably it fails to extract 

 the spider, and in that case 

 rapidly passes to another 

 burrow to repeat its tactics ; 

 sooner or later a spider is 

 in some moment of inatten- 

 tion or incapacity dragged 

 from its stronghold, and, 

 being then comparatively 

 helpless, feels itself at a 

 disadvantage and offers but a 

 feeble resistance to the wasp, 

 which now pounces on its 

 body and immediately in- 

 flicts a sting between the 

 fangs of the foe, and thus 

 at once paralyses these dangerous weapons ; thereafter it stings 

 the body of the spider near to the junction of the abdomen and 

 cephalothorax, and so produces complete inactivity. Having 

 secured its prey, the wasp then seeks a suitable hole in which 

 to deposit it ; probably an empty burrow of a spider is selected 

 for the purpose, and it ma.y be at a height of several feet in a 

 wall ; the Hymenopteron, walking backwards, drags its heavy 

 prey up the wall to bring it to the den. When this is accom- 

 plished an egg is deposited on the spider, and the wasp goes 

 in search of a fragment or two of mortar, with winch the mouth 

 of the burrow is finally blocked. Fabre's accounts refer to the 

 habits of several species, and give a good insight into some points 

 of the instincts of both the spider and the wasp. It seems that a 

 sense of superiority is produced in one or other of the foes, accord- 

 ing as it feels itself in suitable conditions ; so that though a spider 

 out of its burrow and on the ground is speedily vanquished by the 

 1'oiupilid, yet if the two be confined together in a vase, both are 



FIG. 43. Calicurgus hyalinatus ?. Britain. 



