264 The Hunting IVasps 



least the Wasp visited her burrow after laying 

 the egg. Unfortunately, these broken victuals, 

 chewed and chewed again at moments of 

 scarcity, are for the most part unrecognizable. 

 But, if we open a cell with a less forward 

 nurseling, the provisions lend themselves to 

 examination, some of them being still whole 

 or nearly whole, while others, more numerous, 

 are represented by fragments in a state of pre- 

 servation that enables them to be identified. 

 Incomplete though it be, the list obtained 

 under these conditions is surprising and shows 

 what activity the Wasp must display to satisfy 

 the needs of such a table. I will set forth one 

 of the bills of fare which I have observed. 



At the end of September, around the larva 

 of a Jules' Bembex (Bembex Jtilii)} which has 

 reached almost a third of the size which it will 

 finally attain, I find the following heads of 

 game : six Echinomyia rubescens (two whole 

 and four in pieces) ; four Syrphus corollcB (two 

 complete, the other two broken up) ; three 

 Gonia atra (all three untouched : one of them 

 had that moment been brought along by the 

 mother, which led to my discovering the 

 burrow) ; two Pollenia nifescens (one un- 

 touched, the other partly eaten) ; one Bomby- 



^ For a description of this new species, see the Appendix to the 

 present volume. — Auihor^s Note. 



