The Hunting Wasps 



it is worthy of remark that half of this game, 

 namely, the Sphaerophoriae, is right at the end 

 of the cell, under the larva's very teeth, 

 whereas the other half is still in the passage, 

 on the threshold of the cell, and therefore 

 beyond the reach of the grub, which is unable 

 to change its position. It seems to me then 

 that, when game is plentiful, the mother lays 

 her captures on the threshold of the cell for 

 the time and forms a reserve on which she 

 draws as and when necessary, especially on 

 rainy days when all labour is at a stand- 

 still. 



Thus practised with economy, the distribu- 

 tion of food would save a waste which I 

 was not able to prevent with my larva, 

 treated I daresay too sumptuously. I there- 

 fore lower the figure obtained and reduce it to 

 some sixty pieces, of middling size, between 

 that of the House-fly and of the Eristalis 

 tenax. This would about represent the num- 

 ber of Flies supplied by the mother to the 

 larva when the prey is of a moderate size, as 

 is the case with all the Bembex of my dis- 

 trict except the Rostrate Bembex {B. ros- 

 trata) and the Two-pronged Bembex {B. hi- 

 dent at a) ^ who have a preference for Gad- 

 flies. With them, the number of victims 

 290 



