The Mason- Wasps 



The nymphosis takes about twelve days in 

 all. It would be irrelevant to linger any 

 longer over the larva of the Chrysomela; 

 the little which it is expedient to say must 

 not exceed the limits of my subject, which 

 is the story of the Odynerus. 



We know the game grazing on its poplar- 

 leaf in the sun; let us see it stowed away in 

 the larder. I count the number of head in 

 a reed-stump occupied by seventeen cells, 

 with their stores of food complete, or nearly 

 so, some still containing the egg, the others 

 a young larva attacking its first morsel. In 

 the best-provisioned cells ten grubs are 

 packed together; in those least well-supplied 

 there are only three. I perceive, more- 

 over, that, generally speaking, the abund- 

 ance of provisions diminishes in the upper 

 and increases in the lower stories, though 

 the order of progression is not always very 

 exact. The varying ration of the two 

 sexes is probably responsible: the males, 

 which are smaller and more forward, are 

 given the upper chambers, with a frugal 

 bill of fare; the females, which are larger 

 and more backward, are given the lower 

 chambers, with a plentiful table. Another 

 reason, I think, contributes to these varia- 

 tions in number, namely, the size of the 

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