THE SPIDER-HUNTERS 



it past the entrance, but it stuck in the gallery; and after 

 working at it in that position for a time she brought it 

 out, subjected the legs to a severe squeezing, and then 

 tried again. It was still a very bad fit, but by turning it 

 about and pulling at it she succeeded in getting it in. It 

 may be that the object of biting the legs is not to remove 

 them, but to render them limber so that they will bend 

 easily. Whatever the process may be, it is repeated at 

 intervals from the time the spider is captured. As she 

 carries it, the wasp pauses again and again, now on 

 bare ground and now in a sheltered place or on some 

 plant, to renew her efforts at getting the legs into a satis- 

 factory state. 



P. fuscipennis rarely circles about when leaving a 

 place ; this is unfortunate, since her sense of locality 

 seems to be particularly weak. She nearly always has to 

 hunt for the plant upon which she has placed her spider, 

 and always loses track of her nest when she tries to 

 bring the spider to it. We once caught her as she was 

 carrying her spider, and then released her on the same 

 spot; but she became so much confused that without 

 our assistance she would never have found it again. 



Our acquaintance with Pompilus marginatus began 

 in the middle of July. She is a small creature, only 

 half an inch long, and is dressed in black, with a bright 

 221 



