Pitying the wasp, after allowing it to struggle for more than an hour, I killed it and put it back into the web.

The spider soon returned; and an hour afterwards I was much surprised to find it with its jaws buried in the orifice through which the sting is protruded by the living wasp.

I drove the spider away two or three times, but for the next twenty-four hours I always found it again sucking at the same place.

The spider became much distended by the juices of its prey, which was many times larger than itself.
I may here just mention, that I found, near St.Fe Bajada, many large black spiders, with ruby-coloured marks on their backs, having gregarious habits.

The webs were placed vertically, as is invariably the case with the genus Epeira: they were separated from each other by a space of about two feet, but were all attached to certain common lines, which were of great length, and extended to all parts of the community.