LARGER CALIFORNIA INSECTS 



37 



distance ahead of me. He was as big' 

 as a mouse. His thick black body was 

 raised above the ground by eight stotit 

 hairy legs. My first impulse was to 

 retreat quickly, but, supposing he was 

 out in search of his evening meal, I 

 resolved to follow him. but at a respect- 

 ful distance. 



Suddenly he sprang forward. Then 



MISS MARY A. ROE IN HER GARDEN 



he stood still for several minutes. When 

 I reached the spot, I saw a large dead 

 grasshopper that he had pierced by a 

 poison fang between the head and body. 

 The grasshopper had died instantly. 

 After sucking the juices from the body, 

 the tarantula proceeded in the search 

 of other victims. 



As the twilight in that region is short, 

 I returned to the house and told my 

 host what I had seen. He said that 

 one day one of his workmen, in digging 

 a trench, handed him from the up- 

 turned earth what looked like a white 

 silk bag. As he grasped it, a tarantula 

 sprang from it to the ground and fled, 

 leaving a score or more of little ones The 

 tunnel by which the tarantula reached the 

 surface of the earth had been destroyed 

 in the process of digging. My friend 

 consigned the nest and its contents to 

 swift destruction in the kitchen range. 

 Not long after my first sight of a 

 tarantula, I witnessed a terrific battle 

 between one and what is called a sand 

 wasp, as she too builds her nest in the 

 ground. She was the largest and most 

 beautiful wasp I have ever seen. Her 



body, three inches long and, 1 judged, 

 one thick, was a bright metallic blue. 

 The four large gauze-like wings were 

 shaded scarlet. 



For more than an hour, i watched 

 the fierce duel between these insects. 

 Their weapons were about equal in 

 power. The spider was not quite as 

 large as the first that I had seen, but 

 by swift movements he strove to insert 

 his deadly fangs into the wasp and to 

 avoid her venomous stiletto. But the 

 wasp's wings gave her an advantage, 

 and gradually the spider's strength 

 was overcome by repeated stings, and 

 he lay paralyzed or dead, I could not 

 tell which, but as I knew that wasps 

 have the power to leave a glimmer of 

 life in their victims, thus providing food 

 for their young, I watched closely to see 

 the next move. 



The wasp flew to a hole in the sand 

 not far away and disappeared for sev- 

 eral minutes, then she dragged the 

 spider close to the opening, but it was 

 too small. Then I saw her set to work 

 with head and feet, making the sand 

 fly until she was satisfied that the en- 

 trance was large enough. Still she had 

 to push with all her strength to get 

 the spider below the surface and just 

 above the spot where she had evidently 

 deposited her eggs. On returning to 

 the surface, she covered the hole with 

 sand and flew away. Her family cares 

 were ended, for when the little white 

 grubs should emerge from the eggs 

 they would find in the body of that 

 spider all the food required until they 

 also should be ready to rise from the 

 ground in a new and beautiful dress to 

 begin another cycle of life. 



My last adventure with a tarantula 

 w^as an illustration of their wonderful 

 power of endurance. A young man in 

 one of the California canyons captured 

 a large specimen and put it in a quart 

 can, making holes in the lid for air, 

 and brought it to Los Angeles in July 

 leaving it there for me. I was out of 

 the city and did not return till late in 

 September. In that time the spider 

 had received one grasshopper, yet was 

 still alive. I at once poured into the 

 can through the holes in the lid a tea- 

 spoonful of chloroform. There was a 

 scurrying inside of the can for a few 

 minutes, then all was still, and I sup- 

 posed his sufferings were ended. 



A week later I put the can on my 



