214 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



" The Pirpeus, Athens, June 19. 



"Dear Sir, — Your letter of April 5th, and the two numbers 

 of ' Nature,' reached this during my absence in Thessaly, 

 which must be my apology for not having sooner replied to 

 your letter. Though more than thirty years have elapsed 

 since the circumstance alluded to, I perfectly remember the 

 curious chase I witnessed of a very large and powerful 

 hunting-spider by a species of wasp. I was sitting one 

 summer's afternoon at an open window (my bed-room) 

 looking into a garden, when I was surprised to observe a 

 large and rare species of spider run across the window-sill in 

 a crouching attitude. It struck me the spider was evidently 

 alarmed, or it would not have so fearlessly approached me. 

 It hastened to conceal itself under the projecting edge of the 

 window-sill inside the room, and had hardly done so when a 

 very fine large hunting-wasp buzzed in at the open window 

 and flew about the room, evidently in search of something. 

 Finding nothing the wasp returned to the open window and 

 settled on the window-sill, running backwards and forwards 

 as a dog does when looking or searching for a lost scent. 

 It soon alighted on the track of the poor spider, and in a 

 moment it discovered its hiding-place, darted down on it, 

 and no doubt inflicted a wound with its sling. The spider 

 rushed off" again, and this time took refuge under the bed, 

 trying to conceal itself under the framework or planks which 

 supported the mattress. The same scene occurred here ; the 

 wasp never appeared to follow the spider by sight, but ran 

 backwards and forward in large circles like a hound. The 

 moment the trail of the spider was found the wasp followed 

 all the turns it had made, till it came on it again. The poor 

 spider was chased from hiding-place to hiding-place — out of 

 the bed-room, across a passage, and into the middle of 

 another large room, where it finally succumbed to the 

 repeated stings inflicted by the wasp. Rolling itself up into 

 a ball the wasp then took possession of its prey, and, after 

 ascertaining it could make no resistance, tucked it up under 

 its very long hind legs, just as a hawk or an eagle carries off' its 

 quarry, and was flying off" to its nest, when I interposed, and 

 secured both for my collection. Both insects were rare ones; 

 and during the ten years I collected as a field naturalist in 

 Greece I don't remember ever seeing u)ore than three or four 

 specimens of either that species of wasp or spider. The wasp 

 was a hunting one (a female), about an inch and a half long ; 

 a very finely formed insect, which for gracefulness of form 



