St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1889-01-19
THE TEXAN TARANTULA.

An Object of Terror to All Save It's Dead
ly Enemy, the Wasp.
- Apropos to brief reference to the
insect reported to be the deadly enemy
OF the huge spider called the tarantula
DIR. Horn, Philadelphia distinguished
entomologist, sends us the following:
"ln the not too fertile parts of the
region from Texas to California lives a
large spider known to the inhabitants
as the tarantula and to naturalists as
mygale hentzili. Its body is two inches
or more IN length, clothed with rusty
brown hair, the legs long, and when
| extended covering an oval of four or
five inches. AS may be imagined, the
mygale is not handsome insect, and,
while it is looked upon with terror by
most people, no one cares to handle it
unless quite certain it is dead.
"ln place of the web which usually
forms the house of spiders the mygale
excavates a burrow in the loose soil,
from which it wanders in search of it's
prey, consisting principally of men,
bers OF the grasshopper family Or
cicades. The jaws are large and pow
erful, armed with long, stout fangs,
with which they can pierce and kill
their prey. One full meal will at
times supply their needs for several
weeks. In fact, during the moulting
period they remain torpid and take nc
food.
During its growth the mygale makes
an unknown number of mouths, that is,
it sheds it's outer coat when that has
become uncomfortably fitting, in
the same manner as the common crab
of OUR coast. At these times members
lost from the body by accidents are
partially replaced; if leg is lost the
first moult produces a perfectly formed
but short leg, subsequent mouths in
creasing the size of the leg.
"While the mygale is dread to most
forms of insect life, there is one of
which 1t in turn stands in mortal ter
ror. Abundant in the same regions is
a large wasp, with bluish-green body
and golden-red wings. The body is
about two inches long, the spread of |
wings nearly an inch greater. These |
wasps (pepsis formosa) fly uneasily |
about in search of food for themselves |
until they discover a tarantula, when
) more definite course of action is as
'umed. The fight of the wasp is now
n circles around its prey, gradually
it, the mygale, meanwhile
n terror, showing fight, standing semi
rect on the two hinder pair of legs. A
adorable opportunity presenting, the
wasp stings the spider and renews the
ircle flight, repeating the sting until
he spider becomes completely para
yzed. When the wasp is assured of the
elplessness of the spider it seizes him
nd drags him to previously prepared
est. The eggs of the wasp are then
eposited and the spider covered up.
he eggs soon hatch, the spider is
eaten, and new wasp APP
ears to repeat the actions of its
aren't.
by the sting of the wasp the spider
J not killed, simply paralyzed, so that
uring the time it is being fed upon it
etains vitality, furnishing living food
} the newly-hatched larvae, which, by
curious instinct, feed first on those
arts OF the spider not essential to the
maintaining of the little vitality re-
aiming.
Our common mud-wasp, chlay bion,
as similar habits. Its nests, made of
astic mud, are familiar to most peo-
e, as they are found abundantly in
places about barns and other
lthouses. These, when opened, will
} found filled with spiders, in the help
IS condition already mentioned,
nong them a larvae and some partly
ten spiders. ~ Philadelphia Ledger.