The Nest-building Odynerus 



under the same conditions, larvae which are 

 really dead and unbruised, larvae asphyxi- 

 ated with bisulphide of carbon, turn brown 

 in a few days. 



As I should have expected, the laying- 

 peculiarities of the Nest-building Odyne- 

 rus are precisely identical with those of 

 O. reniformis, the object of my earlier ob- 

 servations. I again witness, with the satis- 

 faction that results from verifying an in- 

 teresting fact, the curious arrangements al- 

 ready described. The egg is laid first, 

 right at the back of the cell. Next comes 

 the stacking of the provisions in the order 

 of capture. In this way the eating pro- 

 ceeds from the oldest to the most recent. 



I was above all anxious to ascertain 

 whether the egg was pendulous, that is to 

 say, whether it hung by a thread at one 

 point of the cell, in accordance with what 

 I had learnt from the Eumenes and from 

 O. reniformis. A kinswoman of the latter 

 must, I felt certain beforehand, conform to 

 the method of the suspension-cord; but 

 there was reason to fear that the journey 

 from Orange and the jolting of the cart 

 might have broken the delicate pendulum. 

 I recalled my anxieties, my minute precau- 

 tions, during the removal of the cells with 



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