80 HALP HOURS WITH IXSECTS. LI^ackahd. 



have not a reasoning being under the tuition of nature's 

 laws? 



In like manner the Tarantula Killer {Pompilus formosus, 

 Fig. Gl), according to an exceedingly interesting account 

 published by Dr. Lincecum in the '• American Naturalist" 

 (May, 1SG7), attacks that immense spider, the Mygale Ilevt- 

 zii (Fig. 61), paralyzes it with its formidable sting, and, in- 

 serting an egg in its body, places it in its nest, dug to the 



Fig. 61. 



Tarantula Killer. 



depth of five inches. There are hundreds of other species of 

 wasps thus solely dependent on the adroit use of their stings 

 for the means of providing for their offspring. 



The poison of the spider, which is seldom fatal to man, is 

 lodged in a little gland or sac situated in the head-thorax, 

 and Avhich opens into the jaws, which are hollow, perforated 

 at the end so as to allow the poison to flow into the wound 

 made by the mandible. But very few spiders are poisonous 



16 



