30 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
feigned attacks from that direction. ‘The general attitude of the ‘“‘ Mygale”’ 
was clearly one of defence, for only twice did he attempt any determined 
attack on his sable foe, and then in vain, for quick though he was the Wasp 
was quicker. At last the latter, in one of its circling flights, made the 
fatal swoop. Then for the space of asecond all I could see was a whirling 
jumble of Spider and Wasp, which ended by the latter shooting several feet 
up into the air, and then flying off to a little distance, where it sat cleaning 
its legs and antenne and smoothing its ruffled wings. A glance at the 
Spider was sufficient to show who had come off best in the tussle, for it 
stood there dejected and quivering ; the powerful sting had evidently had 
its effect. A few minutes later the Wasp made a second attack, and was 
resisted much more feebly by the Spider, which soon afterwards became 
sufficiently lethargic to enable the Wasp to seize him with impunity and 
insert the requisite amount of poison. Here I intervened, and, under 
protest from the Wasp, took possession of the Spider, which is now in the 
British Museum Collection. 
That the conflicts between these two creatures always end in this 
manner I strongly doubt, but that they do so in the majority of cases seems 
evident, for otherwise these giant Pompilide would cease to use such 
powerful Spiders as food for their young through the all-compelling agency 
of Natural Selection. There are several species of Mason-Wasps in South- 
East Africa which stock their cells with Spiders, but one in particular is 
thoroughly familiar to all residents from its predilection for building its 
mud-cells in human dwellings. It is an elegant insect, with its black 
thorax and abdomen and very long thin yellow waist, but it is an un- 
mitigated nuisance at times, as, for instance, in the case of a friend of 
mine, who was continually having his American organ deranged by the 
persistent efforts of one of these insects to use its interior as a nursery. It 
is perhaps worth noting that this species does not always build external 
mud-cells, but sometimes bores holes in mud-walls, &c., instead, as I have 
observed on several occasions, and particularly when living in an “adobe ” 
house in Natal, the walls of which were riddled by these Wasps; and it 
was an unpleasantly frequent occurrence to have a stupified Spider dropped 
into one’s plate or cup whilst at meals by a startled insect. The Mason- 
Wasps content themselves with much smaller fry than their relatives men- 
tioned above, and I have frequently noticed that the species which they 
specially patronize are all dully or else protectively coloured, and for the 
most part retiring creatures, which hide themselves away in nooks and 
crannies of foliage, &c. The complete absence of any of the brightly 
coloured Spiders which sit conspicuously in their webs during the day, 
such as Nephile, Argiope, Gasteracantha, &c., leads me to believe that 
these latter are protected by the possession of some distasteful or unwhole- 
