The Black-Bellied Tarantula 



nape of the neck alone possesses the desired 

 vulnerability. The adversary must be nipped 

 there and no elsewhere. Not to floor her at 

 once would mean to irritate her and make 

 her more dangerous than ever. The Spider 

 is well aware of this. In the safe shelter 

 of her threshold, therefore, prepared to beat 

 a quick retreat if necessary, she watches for 

 the favourable moment; she waits for 

 the big Bee to face her, when the neck 

 is easily grabbed. If this condition of 

 success offer, she leaps out and acts; if 

 not, weary of the violent evolutions of 

 the quarry, she retires indors. And that, 

 no doubt, is why it took me two sit- 

 tings of four hours apiece to witness three 

 assassinations. 



Formerly, instructed by the paralysing 

 Wasps, I had myself tried to produce paral- 

 ysis by injecting a drop of ammonia into 

 the thorax of those insects, such as Wee- 

 vils, Buprestes 1 and Dung-beetles, whose 

 compact nervous system assists this physio- 

 logical operation. I showed myself a ready 

 pupil to my masters' teaching and used to 

 paralyse a Buprestis or a Weevil almost as 

 'A genus of Beetles.— Translator's Note. 



71 



