OCTOBER 15. 1915 



victim. The particular 



spider pictured was 



caught in the corolla oi? 



the Avild white lily. IL 



was rudely driven out, 



clinging tenaciously to 



its prey, on to a green 



leaf, carried into the 



house, the leaf pinned 



to a box, and the photo 



taken. 



Several years ago one 



of these spidei's was 



compelled to release re- 

 luctantly its victim; and 



it was then carried to a 



populous colony and 



dropped at the entrance 



among the bees. They 



seemed t o recognize 



their enemy, and drew 



away. After consider- 

 able irntation, one bee, 



more valiant or indis- 

 creet than the rest, at- 

 tacked the spider vi- 



eiously.Instead of show- 

 ing fear, the spider 



seized the bee in a 



strong grip and bit it 



on the under side of the 



thorax. The bee was 



thus in a position Avhere 



it could use its sting. 



But it wilted as though 



paralyzed by a poison. 

 This obsenation may prove interesting to 

 those entomologists who assert that the 

 spider secretes no poison. I then caught a 

 v/orker, and, holding the spider securely, 

 held the point of the bee's abdomen on to 

 the spider that the sting might be made 

 effective in retaliation. But the sting seem- 

 ed to be unable to penetrate the skin of the 

 spider, although many efforts were made. 

 It seems, then, that, though the spider takes 

 liie precaution to seize the bee in the safest 

 way, it would not be in danger, even if the 

 bee were seized wrongly. 



Spiders which kill honeybees. 1, black swallow-tail butterfly (Papilio 

 asterias), killed by crab-spider Misumena ratia, 2. 3, dragonfly (Celithemis 

 'lionina.), captured by M. vatia, 4. Photographed by John H. Lovell. 



To gi'atify my own feelings this spider 

 was despatched, as was also the one shown 

 in the photograph. 



Cadott, Wis. 



[Chas. Heeht, in the Oct. 15th issue for 

 1907, describes this same spider, and an 

 illustration is given showing the spider and 

 its victim on a dandelion blossom. Mr. 

 Jjovell, in his article which follows, shows 

 a spider which is, no doubt, the same one, 

 killing butterflies. — Ed.] 



FLOWER SPIDERS WHICH KILL HONEYBEES 



BY JOHN H. LOVELL 



Tn gathering nectar from flowers a 

 honeybee would seem to be in no danger; 

 yet often it meets with a tragic end. Here 

 lying on the flat lop of the flower-cluster 

 of the hobble-bush is a dead bee. Lift it up 

 and you may discover that the head is firm- 

 ly grasped by the mandibles of a white 

 spider, which, rather than release its prey. 



jjerniits itself to be dragged from its hiding- 

 place. Except for a red stripe on each side 

 of the abdomen, it is wholly white, so that 

 it cainiot be easily distingtiished from the 

 small flowers among which it lives. 



It is one of the crab-spiders {Thomi- 

 sidae), so called because, like a crab, they 

 walk side wise or backward more easily than 



