THE HUNTRESS WASPS 



possible into the soft abdomen. Often the spider is at 

 once paralyzed, but a second and even a third wound 

 is sometimes necessary. The victor seizes its motion- 

 less prey with its jaws and drags it to a hole previously 

 dug. She thrusts it in, deposits an egg upon it, and 

 covers it up. In this case the bulk of the tarantula 

 insures sufficient food for the offspring, and one alone 

 is provided, as seems to be the case with the cicada- 

 storing wasps. But the mud-dauber and her ilk, which 



WOOD-PULP NEST OF rgSPA MACVLATA, OUR COMMON HORNET 



219 



