The Wit of the Wild 



r 



ing any other spider not too large for her use 

 none are so big as to scare her. Thus in two 

 or three hours of a July afternoon she will 

 pack solidly into her cell ten to twenty spiders, 

 big and little, until at last it can hold only 

 one more. 



Having caught this last one, the wasp pauses 

 on her threshold and performs the crowning 

 act for which all that has gone before has been 

 simply a preparation. She deposits and glues 

 a single egg upon the abdomen of this latest 

 victim, and then crowding it on top of the rest, 

 concludes her labors by bringing mud and seal- 

 ing the chamber as tightly as possible. 



This done, she goes her way and leaves her 

 venture to its fate, but next day she builds and 

 stocks a second chamber close beside it, or in 

 continuation of it, and so on until her number 

 is complete. 



Responsibility for her young ceases with the 

 mother's insurance to them of shelter and food 

 until they " come of age." 



Now, what happens in that dark cell? Well, 

 in two or three days, depending on the tem- 



