768 [Assembly 
serve to paralyze and stupefy her victim without killing it. It 
remains alive, but lies perfectly still and passive. The insects 
thus prepared are stowed away in the cells of the wasp as skill¬ 
fully and compactly as the most expert packer in our slaughter 
houses fills his barrels. The farmer in repairing his fences will 
sometimes notice on splitting a decayed rail or stake, holes exca¬ 
vated therein and filled with young spiders, commonly of bright 
beautiful colors, which lie still and quiet, with only a slight 
quivering of their limbs, and is puzzled to know why, when thus 
broken in upon, they do not awake from their lethargy and run 
away, little suspecting the manner and purpose of their being 
accumulated there. And similar interesting and curious pheno¬ 
mena are passing under the farmer’s eye daily, as he pursues his 
labors—phenomena which, if 
“ In nature's infinite Book of secresy 
A little he can read,” 
aid in rendering his vocation beyond all comparison the most 
pleasant of any pursuit known to man. 
In addition to ants and wasps several kinds of flies are common 
about cherry and other trees infested with plant-lice, being at¬ 
tracted hither, like the ants, for the purpose of sipping the 
sweet honey dew. One of these which is common during the 
month of July, and which will be most likely to attract notice, 
both on account of its prim neat appearance and the briskness of 
its gait when walking, is a small blackish green fly, with clear 
glass-like wings, which are crossed by three black bands. With 
its wings extended horizontally outwards, and often gently 
waving them up and down, with many abrupt turns it walks 
with a rapid pace up and down the limbs, and out upon the leaves 
in the vicinity of colonies of plant-lice. It is so tame that if the 
hand has hold of a limb it fearlessly walks around upon it. But 
the most curious part of its movements can only be seen with a 
magnifying glass. Watching its opportunity, when the ants have 
all left a herd of their cattle, the plant lice, unguarded, it runs 
in upon them, where they are crowded together as closely as they 
can stow themselves, and using its four hind legs for walking 
and turning around, with its two fore feet it gently scratches 
