m 



166 THE LIFE AND LOVE OF THE INSECT 



colleague. She turns the horrible Lycosa on her back, 

 deadens her daggers by stinging her in the mouth and then, 

 with a single prick of the needle, contrives the paralysis 

 of the legs at her ease. 



I examine the Epeira immediately after the operation 

 and the Tarantula when the Calicurgus drags her by one 

 leg to her burrow, at the foot of a wall. For a little 

 while longer, a minute at most, the Epeira convulsively 

 moves her legs. As long as these dying quivers last, the 

 Pompilus does not let go of her prey. She seems to be 

 watching the progress of the paralysis. With the tip of 

 her mandibles, she repeatedly explores the mouth of the 

 Arachnid, as though to make sure that the poison-fangs 

 are really harmless. Next, all becomes quiet ; and the 

 Calicurgus makes ready to drag her prey elsewhither. It 

 is then that I take possession of it. 



What strikes me first of all is the absolute inertness of 

 the fangs, which I tickle with a straw without succeeding 

 in rousing them from their torpor. The feelers, on the 

 contrary, the feelers, their immediate neighbours, move 

 backwards and forwards the moment I touch them. I 

 put the Epeira away safely in a flask and subject her to a 

 fresh examination a week later. Irritability has returned 

 in part. Under the stimulus of the straw, I see the limbs 

 move a little, especially the lower joints, legs and tharsi. 

 The feelers are even more irritable and mobile. These 

 various movements, however, are devoid of vigour or 

 coordination ; and the Spider cannot use them to turn 

 herself and still less to shift her position. As for the 

 poison-fangs, I stimulate them in vain ; I do not succeed 

 in inducing them to open, or even to move. They are, 

 therefore, profoundly paralyzed and in a special manner. 

 I thought as much, at the beginning, from the peculiar 

 persistency displayed by the dart in stinging the mouth. 



