34 The Life of a Spider 



when he presents to her, at the entrance to the 

 burrow, a rich, but dangerous prey. The 

 majority refuse to fling themselves upon the 

 Carpenter-bee. The fact is that a quarry of 

 this kind cannot be seized recklessly : the 

 huntress who missed her stroke by biting at 

 random would do so at the risk of her Ufe. The 

 nape of the neck alone possesses the desired 

 vulnerabiUty. The adversary must be nipped 

 there and no elsewhere. Not to floor her at 

 once would mean to irritate her and make 

 her more dangerous than ever. The Spider is 

 well aware of this. In the safe shelter of her 

 threshold, therefore, prepared to beat a quick 

 retreat if necessary, she watches for the favour- 

 able moment ; she waits for the big Bee to face 

 her, when the neck is easily grabbed. If this 

 condition of success offer, she leaps out and 

 acts ; if not, weary of the violent evolutions 

 of the quarry, she retires indoors. And that, 

 no doubt, is why it took me two sittings of four 

 hours apiece to witness three assassinations. 



Formerly, instructed by the paralyzing Wasps, 

 I had myself tried to produce paralysis by 

 injecting a drop of ammonia into the thorax 



