THE MUD-DAUBERS. 183 



borne away. A third wasp seized the first spider that she found 

 and started on her flight at the same moment, stinging it on the 

 wing. 



So the game went on while the three of us, for our friend 

 soon became infected with our enthusiasm, waxed warm with 

 the excitement and fascination of the chase. As the hours went 

 by some of the yellow mud-daubers appeared, adding to the in- 

 terest of the scene, although we could not see that their method 

 differed in the least from that of coeruleus. 



Karely did they succeed in catching a spider until they had 

 dislodged two or three. Sometimes the spiders were followed 

 as they dropped, and were caught on the floor, but oftener the 

 wasp let them escape and continued her search on the wall. At 

 the moment of capture we could see that she bent her abdomen 

 under and inflicted a sting, but although we concentrated our 

 attention on the point we could not be sure as to just what part 

 was touched. Sometimes it was the under part of the abdomen 

 that seemed to be stung, but more commonly it was the cephalo- 

 thorax, underneath or at the side. Once, when the three of us 

 were watching the same wasp, we all agreed that the thrust was 

 given in the dorsum of the abdomen, but the whole thing was 

 done with such a rush that we cannot make any positive state- 

 ment. It is, however, our impression that this first sting was 

 given anywhere, at random, with the object of producing a con- 

 dition of temporary quiet in the victim so that the next part of 

 the operation could be carried on with deliberation. 



The second step in the procedure was commonly for the wasp 

 to alight upon some neighboring object, usually the branch of a 

 bush or tree, and sting the spider a second time. She now had 

 every opportunity for the operation of learned surgery, and 

 she was evidently in no haste, but the difficulty of following her 

 as she flew, and her habit of alighting above our range of vision 

 made it almost impossible to see just what she did. She cer- 

 tainly remained on the branch for some moments, either resting 

 quietly or rolling the spider around and around. 



