Clear-Wing Millers 117 



I had discovered a milk-white spider concealed 

 in a white flower, where it made a living trap for 

 such insects as the flower might attract. By this 

 means it captured a bumble-bee moth, and the lat- 

 ter died almost without a struggle. A poison se- 

 creted by this ghostly spider, known to the moun- 

 tain boys as the "white death," seems to be stronger 

 than that of the web-making spiders. It may be 

 that as almost instant death is necessary to prevent 

 the victim's escaping when the spider has no web to 

 help him hold the captive a stronger poison is 

 necessary. 



In this connection it is interesting to note that 

 a box filled with all sorts of live spiders by a small 

 boy who was making a collection, when left over 

 night was discovered in the morning to have but 

 one live specimen in it. The boy found the " white 

 death," or to be more scientific, the female Mi-su- 

 me'na va'ti-a nestling contentedly in the midst of 

 the dead bodies of its victims. 



The smaller clear-wing millers are often mis- 

 taken for bees, hornets, etc., but as soon as one dis- 

 covers that they are moths, one knows to what tribe 

 they belong. 



Unlike most of the millers, they love the sun- 



