The Mantis: her Hunting 



is so very great that a contest of this kind 

 seems impossible unless some netting inter- 

 vene, some silken toils tHat can shackle and 

 bind the formidable creature. The contrast 

 would be no more intense were the Sheep 

 to take it into her head to fly at the Wolf's 

 throat. And yet the daring attack takes 

 place and victory goes to the weaker, as is 

 proved by the numbers of dead Bees whom 

 I see sucked for hours by the Thomisi. The 

 relative weakness must be made good by 

 some special art; the Spider must possess a 

 strategy that enables her to surmount the 

 apparently insurmountable difficulty. 



To watch events on the lavender-borders 

 would expose me to long, fruitless waits. It 

 is better myself to make the preparations for 

 the duel. I place a Thomisus under a cover 

 with a bunch of lavender sprinkled with a 

 few drops of honey. Some three or four live 

 Bees complete the establishment. 



The Bees pay no heed to their redoubt- 

 able neighbour. They flutter around the 

 trellised enclosure; from time to time they 

 go and take a sip from the honeyed flowers, 

 sometimes quite close to the Spider, not a 

 quarter of an inch away. They seem utterly 

 unaware of their danger. The experience of 

 131 



