THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



129 



The Tarantula-kilki- is a bustling uiKiuiet insect, al- 

 ways in motion, flying now here, now there, and when 

 running on the grounO its wings are in a constant state 

 of vibration. Should it discover a Tanmtuhi. it licgins 

 instantly to fly in circles in the air around its \ictini. 

 The spi'der, as if knowing its fate. tn.iiii>li'< \iolrnlly, 

 standing up ami nialdng a show of HL;lit, but tlu' resist- 

 ance is very fei-lili- and of no avail, '11 ii- s|)iili-r's for >oon 

 diseoversa tavoralilc nioiiK'nt ami darts u)ion the Taran- 

 tula whom it wounds with it> sting, and again eomiiiiMi- 

 ces flying in circles. The injured spider is tlir.iw n into 

 A tremor and often becomes paralvzed. tbougli tln' inflic- 

 tion of a second and even a third wound is >ometinies 

 necessary. Sooner or later the spider bei-om.-s |iowrr- 

 less, when the victor approaches, eandully lerliiig il< 

 way to see if its work has been ellVi-tually iierfonm-d 

 It then begins to drag the Tarantula into a bole \\ liicb 

 it has previou.sly dug iu the ground, where, after the 

 deposition of its egg by the wasp, the spider is covered 

 up and allowed to remain. 



I once met with oneof these wasps tbatliadjiist killed 

 a large Tarantula . Tbiswas iu eeiUral Trxiis, iu mid- 

 summer, when no rain had fallen for a long time and 

 the prairie soil was tilled with numerous sun-eraeks. 

 The weight of the spider was at least three times that 

 of the wasp, yet the wasp running backwards dragged 

 it along through the dry grass which oflered consider- 

 able resistance, overcoming ev-ery ohftacle by earni'st 

 perseverance. The route was rendered ^lill luoic dilH- 



cidt by theeracks in the soil, down whiidi liotb i :i>iou- 



ally tumbled; and several times 1 thought that the Tar- 

 antula was lost at the bottom of a crack, but Ijotli would 

 soon again emerge. Ihadnever seen such an exhibi- 

 tion of strength and perseverance even among ants. I 

 watched lor half an hour, much iuti're^tid. llio energetic 

 wasp draggingthe spiderthrougbenirk> and over lalleii 

 weeds and through fences, and I lollowed, ilrternducd 

 to see the result, although it was near suii>rl and 1 was 

 distant from our encampment. Alter going a short 

 distance, the wasp and spider fell into a large crack. I 

 was then sure that the spider had been lost. After a lit- 

 tle I bent down to see what had become of them, and 

 was much surprised at seeing the wasp dr.agging the sjii- 

 der from the crack. At such an exhibition of strength, 

 I inadvertently exclaimed aloud, " You area stout fel- 

 low! " This exclamation caused the wasp to drop the 

 spider and gaze at me for a moment, having then for the 

 first time noticed mo. It then flew three or four times 

 around the spider, as if to mark its locality, and went 

 away. Sorry for its departure, I took the spider to our 

 tent and preserved it in alcohol. 



In the first number of the Asieuicxn Ento- 

 mologist (pages 8 and 9) we referred briefly, 

 on the authority of Benj. I>orden. a respectable 



[Fig. W2 



Coloi-s — Yellow and rust-red. 



Quaker farmer of Norristown, Pennsylvania, to 

 the Gigantic Digger-wasp {Slizus grcindis, Say) 

 Figure 102, provisioning its nest with a Cicada 

 (Locust). We repeat here the figure given in 

 our first number, and quote at full length what 

 Mr. Borden told us on the .subject: 



Iu the summer of 1866 my attention was called to a 

 colony of large wasps or hornets near this town. A 

 company of us armed with pick and shovel paid them 

 a visit." They were locatcil on the side of a stone 

 turnpike. They burrowed in towards the center of 

 the road, llaril ground appeared to be no obstacle, 

 and when they encountered a stone they turned and 

 went around it. Their burrows were aliout three feet 

 loii^-. with two or three galleries alxuil one foot long. 

 Eaeli gallery terminated in a ehandjer eousideraUly en- 

 larged. In each of these chambers they appeared to 

 have reared one yomig. We did not find any larva, 

 but we found several in the jiupa state. Also in each 

 cliainber we found the remains cd' one of our connnon 

 locusts {C'l'ra.hn. This In-n^t iu our .section is ciuisider- 

 atplv larscr than the- 17-year locust. The bin-rows were 

 just large enough to admit this loi'Ust , ( Ine person had 

 witnessed the "operation of taking iu a locust. The 

 wasp had him on the top of the fence, and Hew off with 

 him, but came to the ground before reacbing the bur- 

 row. Then by means of a book on <acb of his hind 

 feet he dragged bis prey iu on its liack. AVe captured a 

 few of the insects, audi placed one uuiler a tumbler, 

 but he chafed himself to death directly. They make a 

 coarse bumming noise when on the wing. I subse- 

 quently ascertained the scientific name of the species 

 ( AV /-'«.<' !/'"«■/'■» . Sav) through Isaac I^ea, President of 

 the Academy of Natural Sciences at I'biladelpbia. A 

 licrson tells me that he oui'e attempted to capture a 

 Summer Locust as it was ^ittiim tipou a post, but just 

 as be made a grab at it one of tbise large wasps pounced 

 upon it, and he caught them both at the same time, and 

 got stung in the finger bv the wasp in consiM|uence. The 

 jiiuicture was so large as to cause blood to flow freely, 

 and the pain was very severe, but gradually passed ott 

 without any serious inconvenience. 



Mr. Borden was the first person to di.scover 

 that the Gigantic Digger Wasp (Stizus ffnindis) 

 provisions its nest with a Cicada; bat an allied 

 species, which is much cotninoner, the IIand.some 

 Digger Wasp (Stiziis speciosiis, Dvury), Figure 



[Fig. lo:i,] 



( olnrs— lilai'U aud (^ream-color. 

 103, has been published by many different writers 

 during the last century, as having the very 

 same habits. "" This species we know to occur in 

 South Illinois; the fine female specimen, from 

 which the above figure was drawn, having 

 been captured in 18C8, in Union county, by Mr. 

 T. A. E. Ilolcomb, and obligingly presented to 

 us. Whether Dr. Hull's ob.scrvations upon cer- 

 tain gigantic wasps, of which '• he and his sons, 

 and his hired men, see one or two every year, 

 flying along with considerable difficulty with a 

 locust (Cicada) in their grasp,'"* apply to this 

 last species, or to the other one, is for the pres- 

 ent uncertain. Of the large and superbl}' 



*Sec American Entomoiogist , I, page 9. 



