More Hunting Wasps 



It was the fault of the Silk-worm, which re- 

 mained faithful to its mulberry-leaf. 



It was therefore in nearly the certainty of 

 non-fulfilment that I made my first attempts 

 at rearing carnivorous larvae with a quarry 

 which did not conform with the customary 

 regimen. For conscience' sake, more or less 

 perfunctorily, I endeavoured to achieve 

 something that seemed to me bound to end in 

 pitiful failure. Only the Bembex-wasps, 

 which are plentiful in the sand of the neigh- 

 bouring hills, might still afford me, without 

 too prolonged a search, a few subjects on 

 which to experiment. The Tarsal Bembex 

 furnished me with what I wanted: larvae 

 young enough to have still before them a long 

 period of feeding and yet sufficiently devel- 

 oped to endure the trials of a removal. 



These larvae are exhumed with all the con- 

 sideration which their delicate skin demands; 

 a number of head of game are likewise un- 

 earthed intaot, having been recently brought 

 by the mother. They consist of various 

 Diptera, including some Anthrax-flies.^ An 

 old sardine-box, containing a layer of sifted 

 sand and divided into compartments by paper 

 partitions, receives my charges, who are iso- 



1 Cf. The Life of the Fly: chaps, ii. and iv. — Trans- 

 lator's Note. 



igo 



