Another little story. On the Friday afternoon I was
having a bit of a doze in my tent, just able to hear a drone of conversation
from Pat M and Ethel L. Suddenly the drone became a bit louder and I
could hear a ‘Wow!’ and ‘That’s UNBELIEVABLE’. I didn’t do anything
because it’s not all that unusual for unbelievable things to happen at COG
campouts. When the ejaculations became even more excited I put my head
out and was told that a spider was catching a wasp that kept getting
away. As I understand it (please correct me Pat) the wasp went into a
trapdoor spider hole when the spider was out and then the spider went in after
it and closed the lid. Then the lid opened and the spider came out and
then the wasp came out and there was more of the same kind of thing.
The action was over when I got there with a camera but I got
a sort of shot of the wasp. The spider kept going in and out in rather
agitated fashion, eventually closing its lid, never to be seen again. The
only interpretation I can offer is that the wasp was the predator and all the
spider’s actions were defensive. However a close look at a detailed snap
shows that it might have had more on its mind. Clinging to the spider –
including from underneath – are at least six apparent young. I would be
surprised if a spider normally walked around encumbered in such a way, unless
it was removing its young (if that is what they are – they don’t look like
ants) from the danger presented by the wasp. It
would be interesting to know just what species the spider was, and what has
been reported about its behaviour.
