The Distribution of the Sexes 



compartments is no less uneven between one 

 portion and another of the string. Without 

 any exception known to me, the large cells, 

 those with which the series starts, have more 

 abundant provisions than the straitened cells 

 with which the series ends. The heap of 

 honey and pollen in the first is twice or even 

 thrice as large as that in the second. In the 

 last cells, the most recent in date, the victuals 

 arc but a pinch of pollen, so niggardly in 

 amount that we wonder what will become of 

 the larva with that meagre ration. 



One would think that the Osmia, when 

 nearing the end of the laying, attaches no im- 

 portance to her last-born, to whom she doles 

 out space and food so sparingly. The first- 

 born get the benefit of her early enthusiasm: 

 theirs is the well-spread table, theirs the spa- 

 cious apartments. The work has begun to 

 pall by the time that the last eggs are laid; 

 and the lastcomers have to put up with a 

 meagre portion of food and a tiny corner. 



The difference shows itself in another way 

 after the cocoons are spun. The large cells, 

 those at the back, receive the bulky cocoons; 

 the small ones, those in front, have cocoons 

 only a half or a third as big. Before open- 



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