418 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Lous 
tion whether a high degree of specialization, 1. e., refine- 
ment in one limited direction, is a mark of superiority or 
of degeneration. It is marvelous indeed to see a wasp 
go direct to the plant or the environment of the one spe- 
cies which is her prey, capture it and bring it home with 
searcely a false move, and return for another just like it. 
And yet, in all seriousness, should this type of ability 
really be classed as superior to that of the wasp which, 
while lacking this wonderful ability to find and handle 
one species with such a fine degree of accuracy, yet can 
go out boldly into a number of environments, meet a 
dozen different kinds of adversaries with as many differ- 
ent ways of fighting, sting a dozen different species and 
bring them home in any way she can? Diversity of prey 
means diversity in methods of search and handling—a 
time-consuming piece of business. 
The contents of the three nests described above will 
give the reader an idea of the variety of spiders stored. 
In nest 55B, the spiders which could be identified: 
Second cell, 
2 Philodromus pernix Blackwell [C. R. Shoemaker]. 
5 Gayenna pectorosa Koch [C. R. Shoemaker]. 
Third Cell, 
6 Gayenna pectorosa Koch [C. R. Shoemaker]. 
2 Epeira parvula male and female. [H. J. Emerton]. 
Fourth cell, 
1 Xysticus gulosus Keyserling [C. R. Shoemaker]. 
6 Gayenna pectorosa Koch [C. R. Shoemaker]. 
3 Epeira, young of 3 species [H. J. Emerton]. 
