i 82 
The N'aturalist in La Plata. 
weakest hunted thing occasionally succeeds in 
inflicting pain on its persecutor, and the small 
trembling mouse, unable to save itself, can sometimes 
make the cat shriek with pain ; but there is no weak 
spot in the wasp’s armour, no fatal error of judg- 
ment, not even an accident, ever to save the 
wretched victim from its fate. And now comes the 
most iniquitous part of the proceeding. When the 
wasp has sufflciently rested after the struggle, it 
deliberately drags the disabled spider back into its 
own. hole, and, having packed it away at the 
extremity, lays an egg alongside of it, then, coming 
out again, gathers dust and rubbish with which it 
fills up and obliterates the hole ; and, having thus 
concluded its Machiavellian task, it flies cheerfully 
off in quest of another victim. 
The extensive Bpei'ra family, supply the mason - 
wasps and other spider-killers with the majority of 
their victims. These spiders have soft, plump, 
succulent bodies like pats of butter ; they inhabit 
trees and bushes chiefly, where their geometric webs 
betray their whereabouts ; they are timid, com- 
paratively innocuous, and reluctant to quit the 
shelter of their green bower, made of a rolled-up 
leaf; so that there are many reasons why they 
should be persecuted. They exhibit a great variety 
of curious forms; many are also very richly coloured; 
but even their brightest hues — orange, silver, scarlet 
— have not been given without regard to the colour- 
ing of their surroundings. Grreen-leafed bushes are 
frequented by vividly green Bpei’ras, but the imita- 
tive resemblance does not quite end here. The 
green spider’s method of escape, when the bush is 
