The Black-Bellied Tarantula
much for their daring. Shall not hunger, which brings the wolf from the wood, also bring the Tarantula out of her hole? Two, apparently more famished than the rest, do at last pounce upon the Bee and repeat the scene of murder before my eyes. The prey, again bitten in the neck, exclusively in the neck, dies on the instant. Three murders, perpetrated in my presence under identical conditions, represent the fruits of my experiment pursued, on two occasions, from eight o'clock in the morning until twelve midday.
I had seen enough. The quick insect-killer had taught me her trade as had the paralyzer[1] before her: she had shown me that she is thoroughly versed in the art of the butcher of the Pampas.[2] The Tarantula is an accomplished desnucador. It remained to me to confirm the open-air experiment with experiments in the privacy of my study. I therefore got together a menagerie of these poisonous Spiders, so as to judge of the viru-
- ↑ Such as the Hairy Ammophila, the Cerceris and the Languedocian Sphex. Digger-wasps described in other of the author's essays.—Translator's Note.
- ↑ The desnucador, the Argentine slaughterman, whose methods of slaying cattle are detailed in the author's essay entitled, The Theory of Instinct.—Translator's Note.
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