family, which she carries on her back. Apart from these maternal strolls,
she does not appear to me to leave her castle; and the Pompilus, I should
think, has no great chance of meeting her outside. The problem, we
perceive, is becoming complicated: the huntress cannot make her way into
the burrow, where she would risk sudden death; and the Spider's sedentary
habits make an encounter outside the burrow improbable. Here is a riddle
which would be interesting to decipher. Let us endeavour to do so by
observing other Spider-hunters; analogy will enable us to draw a
conclusion.

I have often watched Pompili of every species on their hunting-expeditions,
but I have never surprised them entering the Spider's lodging when the
latter was at home. Whether this lodging be a funnel plunging its neck into
a hole in some wall, an awning stretched amid the stubble, a tent modelled
upon the Arab's, a sheath formed of a few leaves bound together, or a net
with a guard-room attached, whenever the owner is indoors the suspicious
Pompilus holds aloof. When the dwelling is vacant, it is another matter:
the Wasp moves with arrogant ease over those webs, springes and cables in
which so many other insects would remain ensnared. The silken threads do
not seem to have any hold upon her. What is she doing, exploring those
empty webs? She is watching to see what is happening on the adjacent webs
where the Spider is ambushed. The Pompilus therefore feels an insuperable
reluctance to make straight for the Spider when the latter is at home in
the midst of her snares. And she is right, a hundred times over. If the
Tarantula understands the practice of the dagger-thrust in the neck, which
is immediately fatal, the other cannot be unacquainted with it. Woe then to
the imprudent Wasp who presents herself upon the threshold of a Spider of
approximately equal strength!

Of the various instances which I have collected of this cautious reserve on