THE SPIDER-HUNTERS 



whik- the wasp rushed back and forth between it and 

 the hole. In time this method of procedure brought 

 it close to the nest, but it was carried around the edge 

 once or twice even then. At last, accidentally as it 

 seemed, it fell in, when the wasp quickly ran in also 

 and pulled it down. For half an hour she remained in- 

 side, and when she came out we caught her to make 

 sure of her identity. As we set her free immediately 

 we expected her to go to work at covering her nest, but 

 in this we were disappointed, for she did not return. 

 We left the place undisturbed from the thirteenth to 

 the fifteenth of August, when we dug up the nest. The 

 Thomisid was there, but we could find neither egg nor 

 larva. The spider was alive, as was shown by a quiver- 

 ing of the legs. This quivering grew fainter and fainter, 

 until upon the nineteenth it was scarcely perceptible, 

 and on the twenty-first the spider was dead. Our first 

 spider had been stung to death at once, while this one 

 lived seven days and a half after being stored. 



On September first, while out in the bean patch, we 

 saw a large Lycosid running madly, first in one direc- 

 tion and then in another. Hovering eagerly and ex- 

 citedly just above was our marginatus, dashing down 

 at the spider again and again as it came into view for 

 an instant, and then circling wildly around until it 



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