30 The Life of a Spider 



their haunts in order to attack the Carpenter- 

 bee. The formidable quarry is too much for 

 their daring. Shall not hunger, which brings 

 the wolf from the wood, also bring the Tarantula 

 out of her hole ? Two, apparently more 

 famished than the rest, do at last pounce upon 

 the Bee and repeat the scene of murder before 

 my eyes. The prey, again bitten in the neck, 

 exclusively in the neck, dies on the instant. 

 Three murders, perpetrated in my presence 

 under identical conditions, represent the fruits 

 of my experiment pursued, on two occasions, 

 from eight o'clock in the morning until twelve 

 midday. 



I had seen enough. The quick insect-killer 

 had taught me her trade as had the paralyzer ^ 

 before her : she had shown me that she is 

 thoroughly versed in the art of the butcher of 

 the Pampas. 2 The Tarantula is an accom- 

 plished desnucador. It remained to me to 



' Such as the Hairy Ammophila, the Cerceris and the Langue- 

 docian Sphex, Digger-wasps described in other of the author's 

 essays, — Translator's Note. 



' The desnucador, the Argentine slaughterman whose methods 

 of slaying cattle are detailed in the author's essay entitled, The 

 Theory of Instinct. — Translator's Note. 



