78 WASP STUDIES AFIELD 



that is a miniature of that of a passing steamer. She sails 

 a direct and unerring course to the vicinity of her burrow 

 in the bank, and brings her cargo ashore at some nearby 

 landing." 



Arachnophoctonus* ferrugineus Say [S. A. Rohwer]. 



This large red wasp 10 was observed on July 7, 1908, 

 walking up the perpendicular stone wall of the abandoned 

 ice-house at Meramec Highlands, near St. Louis. She was 

 walking backwards, dragging a very large Lycosa spider, 

 much heavier than herself, straight up the wall. She held 

 the spider's head between her mandibles, and was making 

 very rapid progress. Thinking that she was climbing to 

 some height in order to fly down to her nest (in this con- 

 jecture we were probably mistaken), we captured her and 

 her prey before she should get beyond reach. The spider 

 had a long gash surrounded by a large swelling on the 

 dorsal side of its abdomen, but we had no way of knowing 

 whether this was a wound inflicted by the wasp's sting or 

 a cut from her mandibles, or only a laceration from the 

 stones over which it had been forcibly dragged. 



While looking for mud-daubers' nests about the stone 

 foundation of another abandoned building in this vicinity, 

 we frightened another specimen of this formidable-looking 

 species out of a crevice. The cracks between the lime- 

 stones of the foundation were filled with well-weathered 

 mortar. She flew to the ground near by and crouched low 

 under some grass; when we attempted to examine her, she 



9 Mr. Rohwer writes that this generic name is one of Ashmead's 

 divisions of the old genus Pompilus. 



10 This wasp is comparatively rare in this region ; besides the few 

 mentioned here we have seen only five, four females and one male, 

 in five years. 



