The Bembex 261 



served to it. Meanwhile the mother remains 

 in the neighbourhood and you see her some- 

 times feeding herself by sipping the sugary 

 exudations of the field eringo, sometimes settling 

 happily on the burning sand, no doubt watching 

 the outside of the house. Every now and again 

 she sifts the sand at the entrance ; then she 

 flies away and disappears, perhaps to dig other 

 cells elsewhere and to stock them in the same 

 way. But, however long she may stay away, 

 she never forgets the young larva so scantily 

 provided for ; the instinct of a mother tells her 

 the hour when the grub has finished its food 

 and is calling for fresh nourishment. She 

 therefore returns to the nest, of which she is 

 wonderfully capable of discovering the invisible 

 entrance ; she goes down into the earth, this 

 time carrying a bulkier piece of game. After 

 depositing her prey, she again leaves the house 

 and waits outside till the moment arrives to 

 serve a third course. This moment is not slow 

 in coming, for the larva devours its food with a 

 lusty appetite. Again the mother appears with 

 fresh provisions. 



During nearly a fortnight, while the larva is 

 growing up, the meals thus follow in succession, 

 one by one, as needed, and coming closer 

 together as the nurseling waxes bigger. To- 

 wards the end of the fortnight it takes all the 



