xl 



had been originally there : but having been attacked, the lion- 

 hearted little warriors scorned the idea of yielding. 



" Certain wasp-like insects, which construct in the corner 

 of the verandahs clay cells for their larvae, are very numerous in 

 the neighbourhood of Eio. These cells they stuff full of half-dead 

 spiders and caterpillars, which they seem wonderfully to know 

 how to sting to that degree as to leave them paralysed but alive 

 until their eggs are hatched, and the larvpe feed on the horrid 

 mass of powerless, half-killed victims — a sight which has been 

 described by an enthusiastic naturalist as curious and pleasing ! 



" I was much interested one day by watching a deadly 

 contest between a Pepsis and a large spider of the genus Lycosa. 

 The wasp made a sudden dash at its prey, and then flew away : 

 the spider was evidently wounded, for, trying to escape, it rolled 

 down a little slope, but had still strength sufficient to crawl into 

 a thick tuft of grass. The wasp soon returned, and seemed 

 surprised at not immediately finding its victim. It then com- 

 menced as regular a hunt as ever hound did after fox ; making 

 short semicircular casts, and all the time rapidly vibrating its 

 wings and antennae. The spider, though well concealed, was 

 soon discovered ; and the wasp, evidently still afraid of its 

 adversary's jaws, after much manoeuvring, inflicted two stings 

 on the underside of its thorax. At last, carefully examining 

 with its antennae the now motionless spider, it proceeded to drag 

 away the body. But I stopped both tyrant and prey." 



On the 6th of December, 1833, the 'Beagle' left the Eio 

 Plata for the coast of Patagonia, and the occurrence of insects 

 at sea is chronicled thus : — 



" Several times when the ship has been some miles ofl' the 

 Plata, and other times when off the shores of Northern 

 Patagonia, we have been surrounded with insects. One evening, 

 when we were about ten miles from the Bay of San Bias, vast 

 numbers of butterflies, in bands or flocks of countless myriads, 

 extended as far as the eye could range. Even by the aid of a 

 telescope it was not possible to see a space free from butterflies. 

 The seamen cried out, 'it was snowing butterflies,' and such in 

 fact was the appearance. More species than one were present, 

 but the main part belonged to a kind very similar to, but not 



