TWO SPIDER HUNTERS. 53 



CHAPTER Y. 



TWO SPIDER HUNTERS. 



Stinging Habits of Saliiis conieus Saj. 



At noon on the third day of Aiigaist we saw this little black 

 wasp hunting for prey. (PL XIII., fig. 2.) She was on the 

 ground, running around and around the baee of a weed, the 

 place seeming to interest her greatly. Before long she discov- 

 ered a tiny male Lycosid and dashed at it, but the spider es- 

 caped. Apparently accustomed to such mishaps she began to 

 move very rapidly in a circle around the place where she had 

 lost her prey. She was greatly excited and moved with mar- 

 vellous celerity, but never once used her wings. We have one 

 wasp {Pompilus quinquenotatus) whose movements suggest a 

 tornado, but this new depredator had the ways of a whirlwind. 

 As the circles narrowed she again caught sight of her victim and 

 made another dash but met the same fate as before. The Lycosid 

 was, in his way, quite as much of a runner and jumper as his 

 ■enemy and the contestants were well matched. Pour times 

 in succession the wasp attacked but failed to grasp her victim, 

 but at last she succeeded and the two rolled over and over in 

 deadly embrace. Lest they should escape we placed our collect- 

 ing bottle over them and at this they separated, but as soon as 

 the glass, with them in it, was lifted up, the wasp threw herself 

 upon the unfortunate spider, seized him by the head, and bend- 

 ing her long slender body around and underneath thrust her 

 sting into the middle of the underside of the cephalothorax. 

 Almost instantly the spider collapsed. As we turned the glass 

 they fell apart, and again she dashed at her victim and with as 

 much ardor as before gave a second thrust after the manner of 

 ihe first. She then seized a leg and, mo\dng backward like 

 Pompilus, began to drag her booty about. 



