Another Prober 



provisions enough for one and one alone. 

 When, therefore, there Is more than one set 

 of eggs In any one cell, this Is due to a mistake 

 on her part and not a premeditated result. 

 Where the whole ration Is required for the 

 meals of a single grub, she would take good 

 care not to Instal several If she could help it. 

 Her competitor Is not called upon to observe 

 the same discretion. A Chalicodoma-grub 

 gives the dwarf the wherewithal to portion a 

 score of her little ones, who will live in com- 

 mon and In all comfort on what a single son 

 of the giantess would eat up by himself. The 

 tiny boring-engineer, therefore, always settles 

 a numerous family at the same banquet. The 

 bowl, ample for a dozen or two, Is emptied In 

 perfect harmony. 



Curiosity made me count the brood, to see 

 if the mother was able to estimate the victuals 

 and to proportion the number of guests to the 

 sumptuousness of the fare provided. My 

 notes mention fifty-four larvae in the cell of a 

 Masked Anthophora {Anthophora person- 

 ata) . No other census attained this figure. 

 Possibly, two different mothers had laid their 

 eggs in this crowded habitation. With the 

 Mason-bee of the Walls, I see the number of 

 larvae vary, in different cells, between four 

 69 



