The Pelopaeus' Victuals 



as with the other Wasps, in regulating the 

 luxuries of the table. 



The culminating feature in the biography 

 of any hunting insect is the method of at- 

 tack; and so I did my utmost to observe the 

 Pelopaeus at grips with her quarry. My 

 patient waits in front of her favourite hunt- 

 ing-grounds, old walls and bramble-thickets, 

 were not crowned with any great success. 

 I have seen the Pelopaeus fall suddenly upon 

 the Spider madly fleeing and clasp and carry 

 off her victim almost without delaying her 

 flight. The other game-hunters alight on 

 the ground, solemnly make their fastidious 

 preparations and distribute their lancet- 

 strokes with the calm deliberation which a 

 delicate operation demands. The Pelo- 

 paeus darts forward, seizes her prey and 

 makes off, very much as the Bembeces do. 

 There is reason to believe, so sudden is the 

 rape, that she makes use of her sting and 

 her mandibles only during the flight, on her 

 journey home. This fierce procedure, 

 which is incompatible with scientific surgery, 

 explains even better than the narrowness of 

 the cells her preference for Spiders of small 

 dimensions. A sturdy prey, armed with its 

 two poison-fangs, would constitute a deadly 

 peril to the ravisher disdainful of precau- 

 95 



