Instinct Versus Intelligence

5 Pages 1229 Words

Intelligence versus Instinct

Is instinct always more important than intelligence? The answer to this question is given in the essay “The Spider and The Wasp” written by Alexander Petrunkevitch. “The two contestants roll over and over on the ground. It is a terrifying sight and the outcome is always the same.” (Petrunkevitch 632) Alexander Petrunkevitch describes to us a battle between the tarantula spider and its instinct versus the digger wasp and its brilliance.
In the first half of the essay “The Spider and The Wasp”, Petrunkevitch describes the tarantula in depth. He begins with the habitat and living area of the spider, the reproduction and mating habits of both the male and female tarantula, the description of the spider, and finishes by listing the three tactile responses the spider displays when threatened. Petrunkevitch states that tarantulas live in the tropics and are common in the Southern U.S. The spider resides in cylindrical burrows where it stays until dusk, then comes out into the open and wanders through the night looking for a mate until the sun begins to rise in the early morning. Petrunkevitch explains that the male tarantula mates once and passes away a few weeks later, unlike the male; the female produces several thousand eggs and can mate several times in its lifetime. Petrunkevitch illustrates that the spider is large, extremely hairy, with huge fangs. He states that the spider has very poor eyesight, little or no hearing, and is very sensitive to touch. Petrunkevitch describes the spider to be completely covered in thick hair, focusing mainly on the legs. The hair on the legs of the tarantula is called trichobothria. Trichobothria is the very fine hair growing from the disliked membranes on the spider’s legs and is only sensitive to the movement of air. Petrunkevitch concludes the description of the tarantula by elaborating on the responses of the spider when it feels threatened or is in dan...