204 



WASPS AND THEIR WAYS 



the end is sealed up, and the tgg left to 

 take care of itself. 



The mud-dauber cannot store up active 

 spiders, or the tables might very quickly 

 be turned, and Pelopasus' tender offspring 

 become converted into spider, 

 instead of the reverse happen- 

 ing as intended. 



So Pelopaeus catches her 

 spider and stings it. Generally 

 she does not kill it at once, 

 but stings it enough to paralyse it; in 

 which state it remains as fresh food for 

 the larva, though, truth to tell, that raven- 

 ous infant does not seem to care much 

 v^hether its food is alive or not. it de- 

 vours dead spiders as eagerly as living 

 ones. Mother Pelopcneus has learned the 

 trick of stinging spiders to perfection : 

 grasping her indignant and resentful prey, 

 she thrusts her poisoned dart into its nerve 

 centres so as to quiet it at once. Many 

 people believe the wasps sting the insect 



