l8o TfMEHfc!, 
sharp-fan ged, venomed spiders — as suitable for their 
young, the entrapped specimens being first stupefied by 
the injection of the poison of the parent, so that their 
young should secure fresh and suitable nourishment. 
The commonest of the Sphegidse are well-known here, 
even in the town, by the common name of mason-bees, 
owing to the variously-formed mud structures which they 
make for their young, attached to stones, sticks, or 
generally to the rafters of the houses. In the country 
districts, this family is represented by a great variety 
of forms, many of very large size, which make their 
homes either in the hard clay banks or in the sandy 
ridges. One of the chief of these, fairly common in the 
higher districts of the country, is the violet and black 
wasp, or so-called marabunta, Pepsis ruficarnis, which 
reaches a length of body of about i|-2 inches, and is 
distinguished by dark wings and reddish antennae. 
Curious to relate, this form seems only to select for its 
young the large and hairy bird-eating spider, Mygale 
avtcularis, upon which, owing to its flight, the wasp is 
able to settle suddenly, and to paralyze or make uncon- 
scious by its sting, before the spider has even a chance to 
struggle for its life. Owing to its large size and strength of 
body, and to the corresponding strength of its wings, the bee 
is able to carry off quite large specimens of the spider, and 
to drag them into its retreats. The large, thick and 
juicy body of this great spider offers a sufficient amount 
of food for the young of this large bee ; and one cannot 
but be struck w T ith the intelligence displayed by the 
parent in securing for its young, not simply a mass of 
small-bodied insects from which but a small amount of 
nutriment can be secured owing to the preponderance 
