The Black-Bellied Tarantula 25 



this sudden death to the vital importance of the 

 point attacked by the Spider, rather than to 

 the virulence of the poison. 



What is this point ? It is impossible to recog- 

 nize it on the Bumble-bees. They enter the 

 burrow ; and the murder is committed far from 

 sight. Nor does the lens discover any wound 

 upon the corpse, so delicate are the weapons 

 that produce it. One would have to see the 

 two adversaries engage in a direct contest. I 

 have often tried to place a Tarantula and a 

 Bumble-bee face to face in the same bottle. 

 The two animals mutually flee each other, 

 each being as much upset as the other at its 

 captivity. I have kept them together for 

 twenty-four hours, without aggressive display 

 on either side. Thinking more of their prison 

 than of attacking each other, they temporize, 

 as though indifferent. The experiment has 

 always been fruitless. I have succeeded with 

 Bees and Wasps, but the murder has been com- 

 mitted at night and has taught me nothing. 

 I would find both insects, next morning, reduced 

 to a jelly under the Spider's mandibles. A 

 weak prey is a mouthful which the Spider 



