THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Ill 



it'=' 



We have lately re- 

 ceived several speci- 

 mens of this large 

 Ground Spider from 

 some of our subscrib- 

 ersin ]\Iissouri, and wt 

 therefore present hcrc- 

 with (Fig. 91) a lif. 

 si/p portrait of i^ 

 Large and formidable 

 as it appears, it yet ha*, 

 a deadly enemy iu a 

 large species of Dig- 

 ger-wasp {Pumpilus 

 1'ormosus. Say), which 

 ftingsand paralyzes it 

 \Ve quote from the 

 American XaturalUt 

 of May, 1867, the fol- 

 lowing interesting ob- 

 Kcrvations on this wa 

 which were made b\ 

 Dr. G. Lincecum : 



"This large and con 

 spieuous insect i* eve 

 rywhere iu Texas call 

 cd the Tarantula K 

 Icr, and is over tv.( 

 inches in length; ihf 

 head, thorax, abdo 



men, and long spiny (\,\m- 



li'gs arc all black, while the wings arc 

 sometimes of a bright brown, with black 

 spots at the tips. It is armed witli a formi- 

 dable sting, which it invariably uses in tak- 

 ing its prey. * * * It takes its prey by 

 stinging, thus instantly paralyzing every limb 

 of its victim. The effect of the introduc- 

 tion of its venom is as sudden as the snap of 

 the electric spark. The wasp then drags it, 

 going b.ackwards, to some suitable place, exca- 

 vates a hole five inches deep in the earth, places 

 its great spider in it, deposits an egg under one 

 of its legs, near the body, and then covers the 

 liole very securely. A young Tarantula Killer 

 will be produced from this egg, if no accident 

 befalls it, about the first of .Tune of the ensuing 

 year. * * * 



'• The Tarantula Killers have severe fights 

 with each other. It occasionally happens, when 

 one of them succeeds in capturing a Tarantula, 

 I hat another one, or more, flying around in that 

 vicinity, and smelling the odor that arises from 

 the Tarantula Killer when she uses her sting, 

 which resembles the odor of the paper-making 

 wasp (Vespa), only much stronger, takes the 



THE TAU.\XTULA OP TE.\AS. 



I My 111' Ihnt-U Giraul) 



scent like a dog, tracks 

 the Tarantula, follow- 

 ing it up clo^eh , and 

 mak(s a Molent elloit 

 lo get po-.M.m ot 

 the p.>i.il\ /('d -pidei 

 A light en'-u( ^, \vhi< h 

 cMni^i(>nalh teimin- 

 •Llcs in the death of 

 both parties; at olhei 

 times the contest lasts 

 but a little while, as 

 the stronger party 

 lives olT the weaker, 

 lid takes possession 



■• It is siiiiirising lo 

 lie who has been 

 lucated to believe 

 lat the faculty of 

 reason belongs alone 

 to man, to contem- 

 plate the consummate 

 ingenuity which is 

 displayed liy these in- 

 sects in their efforts 

 to secure their eggs 

 from the observation 

 ot their own thiev- 

 ing sisters, and to 

 ide the food they 

 c provided for their young during the ])eriod 

 "fits existence underground." 



THK MELA.VfUOLY CHAKEli. 



In number .', page :W, we slated on the excel- 

 lent authority of Mr. Parker Earle, that the Mel- 

 ancholy rhafer(Fig. ft2)eats into the blossom end 

 of pears and causes a clammy exu- 

 dation therefrom. Mr. (iloverloug 

 ago found these very same insects in 

 cotton-bolls inside the holes pierced 

 by the boll worm, and in one in. 

 stance as many as five in a single 

 boll. {Patent Office Report, 18.5-1, 

 bro^i^lid^tV.h. ;). 01). They appear, he says, to 

 frequent such places merely for the sake of the 

 cxtravasated sap. If this opinion be correct, it 

 is possible that these Chafers may attack only 

 such pears as have been already bored up by the 

 Apple-worm. In the blossom end of one pear 

 that had been attacked we distinctly recollect 

 having observed the usual Apple-worm castings, 

 or " frass," as it is technically termed. 





