The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1851-11-06
THE SAND WASP.

| awe watched them day alter day, AM
aour aitcr hour, in my garden, and also OF
he sandy banks on the wastes about Eshcr
IN Surrey, and always with uaabaied won
der. They are about an inch long, will
orange-colored bodies, and black heads ane
wings. They are slender and most active
You see them on the warm borders Of your
garden, or on warm, dry banks in summer
when the sun shines hotly. They are in
cessnn,!y aud most actively hunting about
They are in pursuit Of particular gra,
spider with large abdomen. For these
hey pursue their chase with a fiery quick
ness and avidity. The spiders are on the
watch TO seize flies; bnt here we have The
tables turned, aud these flies are en- the
watch 10 discover and kill the SPIDERS
These singular insects seem all velocity
md fire. Thes come Il, ing al a most rap
j rate, light down on the dry soil, and com
nence an active search. The spiders lie
ander the leaves of plants, and in little
dens under the dry little clods. Into all
these places the sand-wasp pops his head
He bustles along here and there, flirting
his wings, aud his whole body all life aud
fire. And now he moves off To distance.
hunts about there, then back to his first
place, beats the old ground carefully over,
as pointer beats field. lie searches
carefully round every little knob Of earth
and pops bis head into every crevce. Es.
er and anon, he cronches close among The
! little clnds rs tiger would crouch for hl>
prev. He seems TO be listening, or smell
ing down into the earth, rs if TO discover
his prey bv every sense which be possesses
He goes round every stalk, and descend,
into every hollow about them. When he
| finds the spider. he dispatches him in mo
ment, and seizing him by the centre Of his
chest, commences dragging him off back
| ward.
! IIe conveys his prey TO place Of safety.
Frequently he carries it up some inches
INTO plant. and lodges it among The green
ieaves. Seeing him do this, paked hi
spider down with a stick after he had ler
II hn, he speedily ,e,nrned, aud finding II
tailen down, he Immediately carried it W
again to he same place.
Having thus secured his spider, he Sc
'ects particular spot Of earth, the NOS
*unnY and warm. and begins To dig pit
lie works with all his might. digging NJ
The earth with his formidable mandibles
and throwing it OF, with his feet. as dog
throws on, The earth when scratching after
a rabbit. Every few seconds he asccnds.
tail first, ont Of his hole, clears away the
earth about its mouth with his legs. and
L. =, ,l
When he his dug The hole, perhaps two
inches deep. he comes forth eagerly, goes
off for his spider, drsgs il down from it,
lo'gment, and brings il 10 the mouth Of his
hole. He now lets himself down the hole.
tail first, and then putting forth his head.
takes the spider, and turns it into the most
suitable position fnr dragging il in.
|, must be observed that this hole is made
IctreiulIy Of only about The width Of his
body. and therefore The spider can not be
90, into il except leng,hwise, and then b,
stout pulling. Well, he turns it length
wise. aud seizing il, commences dragging
II in. A, first, YOU would imagine this i'm
possible; bn, The sand wasp is strong, and
The body OF The spider is pIiabIe. You soon
see il disappear. Down into the C, llndric-
i hole il goes, and anon You perceive the
>and-wasp pushing mp its black head be
,ide il; and having made his way out, he
gain se,s to work, and pushes the spider
with all his force to the bottom Of the den.
And what is all this for? Is the spider
laid up in his harder for himself? No; il i
food for his children! II is their birth
place, aud their supply OF provisions while
thew are in the larva state.
We have been all along calling this crea
iure he, for it has most masculine look.
hut il is in reality she; il is The iemafe
s,nd-wasp, and all this preparation is for
the purpose Of laying her eggs. For this
she has sought and killed the spider, and
buried it here She has chosen one par-
ticular spider, and that only, for that is the
one peculiarly adapted 10 nourish her
yonDg.
So here it is safely stored awav in her
den; and she now descends, tail first, and
piercing The pulpy abdomen OF, The spider,
she deposits her egg or eggs. Tha, being
done, she carefully begins filing in the heie
with earth. She rakes it up with her legs
,nd mandibles, and fills in The hole. ever,
now and then turning round and going
backward into the hole TO stamp down the
earth with her feet, and ram il down with
her body as a ra,nmer. When The hole l.
filed, il is curious TO observe with what
care she levels the surfnce, and removes
he surrounding Jumps Of earth. laying
some first over the grave Of the spider, and
Others about, SO as TO make that place look
as much as possible like the surface all
around And before she has done with il
and she works often for ten minutes a,
this ieye'ing and Disgusting before she is
perfectly satisfied she makes the place so
exactly like all the res, of the surface, that
il will require good eyes and close obser-
walton to recognize IL.
She has now done her part, and Nature
must do the rest. She has deposited her
eggs in the body Of the spider, and laid that
body in the earth, in the most sunny spot
she can find She has laid il so near the
surface TINT the sun will act on il power
folly, vet deep enough 10 conceal it from
view She has, with great art and anx-
ety, destroyed all traces of the hole, aud
the effect will soon commence. Tho hea,
nf the sun will hatch the egg. The larva,
ar young grub Of the sand-wasp, will be-
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