70 INSECT BEHAVIOR 



that shelter her prey from less agile creatures than herself. We see 

 her alight upon the ground and search diligently under every leaf 

 and branch that chances in her path. Her antennae are curled over, 

 so that the end of each forms a perfect loop. She thrusts them ahead 

 of her and depends upon their sensitive pores to locate the big tawny 

 spiders that constitute her prey. She is always nervously alert, her 

 body tense and ready at an instant's notice to spring back out of 

 danger. As she works, her big, steel blue wings quiver continually 

 as though with excitement over the possibilities of each new leaf and 

 shelter that she explores. 



Her course is irregular. Here she searches for perhaps a minute, 

 followed by a longer investigation some fifty feet away. Now the 

 hunt leads her back to the starting point and later to the intervening 

 ground, which is searched minutely. At other times she walks in a 

 zigzag fashion for a great distance, even though unsuccessful in the 

 end. It is a surprise to me that she finds her elusive and protectively 

 colored prey at all. You wonder why? Then search among the 

 leaves for the spider that serves to provision her nest. You will 

 scarcely find one, even in a whole day's hunt, yet the huntress is a 

 dominant insect, seldom defeated in her quest. 



At length the spider is found lurking beneath a brittle leaf. Her 

 antennae telegraph the information to a tiny brain and instantly the 

 wasp springs back as though surprised. A second later she recovers 

 and thrusts herself into the spider's den. Her body bends under 

 her so that the deadly sting protrudes almost beyond the head. At 

 the first movement from the spider, she springs back again with 

 quivering wings. The manoeuvre is repeated over and over until 

 her prey is at length forced unconsciously into a convenient position. 

 Then, like a flash, she is upon the unfortunate. Her sting plunges 

 deeply into the creature's nerve center and instant paralysis results. 



The spider is not killed outright. In that case it would decompose 



