THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Ill 



We liave lately re- 

 ceived several speci- 

 meus of tills large 

 Ground Spider from 

 some of our subscrib- 

 ersinMissoud, and we 

 therefore present here- 

 with (Fig. 91) a life- 

 size iiortrait of it. 

 Large and formidable 

 as it appears, it yet has 

 a deadly enemy in a 

 large species of Dig- 

 ger-wasp ( Ponipilus 

 forinosus, Say), which 

 stings and paralyzes it. 

 We quote from the 

 American Naturalist 

 of May, 1867, the fol- 

 lowing interesting ob- 

 servations on tliis wasp 

 which were made by 

 Dr. G. Lincecum: 



"This large and con- 

 spicuous insect is eve- 

 rywhere ill Texas call- 

 ed the Tarantula Kil- 

 ler, and is over two 

 inches in length: Ihc 

 head, thorax, abdo- 

 men, aud long spiny (ulor- 

 legs are all black, while the wings are 

 sometimes of a bright brown, with black 

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

 dable sting, whicli it invariably uses in tak- 

 ing its prey. ■» * » j(. xg^idt^ its prey by 

 stinging, thus instantly paralyzing every limb 

 of its victim. The effect of tlie inlroduc- 

 tion of its venom is as sudden as (he snap of 

 the electric spark. The wasp then drags it, 

 going backwards, to some suitable place, exca- 

 vates a hole five inches deep in the carlh, places 

 its great spider in it, deposits an egg under one 

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

 hole very securely. A young Tarantula Killer 

 will be produced from this egg, if no accident 

 befalls it, about the first of June of the ensuing 

 year. * '■■ * 



'•Tiie Tarantula Killers have seveie fights 

 with each other. It occasionally happens, when 

 one of theto succeeds in capturing a Tarantula, 

 that another oue, 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 T.\RANTULA OF TEXAS. 



{Muoiilr ITentiH, Girard). 



scent like a dog, tracks 

 the Tarantula, follow- 

 ing it up closely, and 

 makes a violent eflbrt 

 to get possession of 

 the paralyzed spider. 

 A fight ensues, whicli 

 (iccasioiially termin- 

 ates in the death of 

 both parties ; at other 

 times the contest lasts 

 but a little while, as 

 the stronger parly 

 drives off the weaker, 

 and takes possession 

 of the prey. 



"■ It is surprising to 

 one who has been 

 educated to believe 

 that the faculty of 

 reason belongs alone 

 to man, to contein- 

 jjlate the consummate 

 ingenuity which is 

 displayed by these in- 

 sects in their cftbrts 

 to secure their eggs 

 from the obseiTatioii 

 of their own thiev- 

 ing sisters, and to 

 hide the food they 



have provided for their young during the iieriod 



of its existence underground." 



THE >IEL,A.\('HOLY CHAFEF!. 



Ill number ■>, page ;!i>, we stated on the excel- 

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

 ancholy Chafer(F}>^. !i2)eats into the blossom end 

 [ni!.:i...] of pears and causes a clammy exu- 

 dation thorefrom. Mr. Gloverloug 

 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 Beport, 18,")4. 

 iiruwnnniiwhiti.h. j7. ()1). Tliey 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 technicallv termed. 



