Beetle,
invincible under his horny armour. These are exceptional morsels, hardly
ever known to the Epeirae. Will they be accepted, if supplied by my
stratagems?

They are, but not without caution. The game is seen to be perilous of
approach and the Spider turns her back upon it, instead of facing it; she
trains her rope-cannon upon it. Quickly, the hind-legs draw from the
spinnerets something much better than single cords. The whole
silk-battery works at one and the same time, firing a regular volley of
ribbons and sheets, which a wide movement of the legs spreads fan-wise
and flings over the entangled prisoner. Guarding against sudden starts,
the Epeira casts her armfuls of bands on the front-and hind-parts, over
the legs and over the wings, here, there and everywhere, extravagantly.
The most fiery prey is promptly mastered under this avalanche. In vain,
the Mantis tries to open her saw-toothed arm-guards; in vain, the Hornet
makes play with her dagger; in vain, the Beetle stiffens his legs and
arches his back: a fresh wave of threads swoops down and paralyses every
effort.

These lavished, far-flung ribbons threaten to exhaust the factory; it
would be much more economical to resort to the method of the spool; but,
to turn the machine, the Spider would have to go up to it and work it
with her leg. This is too risky; and hence the continuous spray of silk,
at a safe distance. When all is used up, there is more to come.

Still, the Epeira seems concerned at this excessive outlay. When
circumstances permit, she gladly returns to the mechanism of the
revolving spool. I saw her practise this abrupt change of tactics on a
big Beetle, with a smooth, plump body, which lent itself admirably to the
rotary process. After depriving the beast of all power of movement, she
went up to it and turned her corpulent victim as she would have done with
a medium-sized Moth.

But with the Praying Mantis, sticking out her long legs and her spreading
wings, rotation is no longer feasible. Then, until the quarry is
thoroughly subdued, the spray of bandages goes on continuously, even to
the point of drying up the silk-glands. A capture of this kind is
ruinous. It is true that, except when I interfered, I have never seen
the Spider tackle that formidable provender.

Be it feeble or strong, the game is now neatly trussed, by one of the two
methods. The next move never varies. The bound insect is bitten,
without persistency