1 82 The Naturalist in La Plata. 



weakest hunted thing occasionally succeeds in 

 inflicting pain on its persecutor, and the small 

 trembling mouse, unable to save itself, can sometimes 

 make the cat shriek with pain ; but there is no weak 

 spot in the wasp's armour, no fatal error of judg- 

 ment, not even an accident, ever to save the 

 wretched victim from its fate. And now comes the 

 most iniquitous part of the proceeding. When the 

 wasp has sufficiently rested after the struggle, it 

 deliberately drags the disabled spider back into its 

 own hole, and, having packed it away at the 

 extremity, lays an egg alongside of it, then, coming 

 out again, gathers dust and rubbish with which it 

 fills up and obliterates the hole ; and, having thus 

 concluded its Machiavellian task, it flies cheerfully 

 off in quest of another victim. 



The extensive Epei'ra family supply the mason- 

 wasps and other spider-killers with the majority of 

 their victims. These spiders have soft, plump, 

 succulent bodies like pats of butter ; they inhabit 

 trees and bushes chiefly, where their geometric webs 

 betray their whereabouts; they are timid, com- 

 paratively innocuous, and reluctant to quit the 

 shelter of their green bower, made of a rolled-up 

 leaf; so that there are many reasons why they 

 should be persecuted. They exhibit a great variety 

 of curious forms; many are also very richly coloured; 

 but even their brightest hues orange, silver, scarlet 

 have not been given without regard to the colour- 

 ing of their surroundings. Green-leafed bushes are 

 frequented by vividly green Epei'ra s, but the imita- 

 tive resemblance does not quite end here. The 

 green spider's method of escape, when the bush is 



