AN EIGHT-LEGGED ISHMAELITE. 39 



these refinements ; they give open chase to their prey 

 and rely upon their speed to secure it. Thus the big 

 Indian house spider builds no web, nor does he lie in 

 ambush. He wanders about until he espies a cockroach, 

 when he gives chase, and if there be a few feet of open 

 country before the black beetle can find cover, you may 

 bet any odds on the spider. The little Sallicus, com- 

 mon all the world over, is another of the fleet spiders. He, 

 however, carries a silken line about with him which assists 

 him in accomplishing his wonderful jumps. Other spiders 

 stalk their prey as skilfully as any cat. In short, almost 

 every species of spider has its own peculiar method of 

 securing its victim. 



The spider is in its turn preyed upon. Wasps are the 

 hereditary enemies of the arachnid tribe. Most cruel and 

 implacable of the wasps is the mason-wasp, who is as bar- 

 barous towards the spider as the spider is to his victim. In- 

 deed, if the spider gives no quarter, he gets none. When 

 the mason-wasp espies a spider, she seizes him and maims 

 him, and then carries him off to her nest, where he is eaten 

 alive by the grubs. There is a small species of wasp which 

 preys especially on those spiders which lie in wait for their 

 victims in holes in the ground. When the wasp catches 

 sight of what appears to be the lair of such a spider she at 

 once enters it. Being not unlike a blue-bottle fly in appear- 

 ance, the intruder is mistaken by the spider for this insect. 

 The spider, thus deceived, makes a dash at the wasp. The 

 latter pretends to be greatly alarmed, and runs back out of 

 the hole with the spider close behind. Once outside, the 

 wasp turns on the spider, and before the latter has appreci- 

 ated what has happened, it is in the cruel embrace of the 

 wasp, receiving an injection of paralysing poison. The 

 wasp then adds insult to injury by dragging the disabled 

 spider back to its own hole, in which she lays an egg. This 

 being done, she covers up both insect and egg with earth, 

 and then flies away, feeling that she has left a plentiful supply 

 of food for the larva to eat when hatched. The ichneumon 



