The Bembex 265 



lius (reduced to pulp) ; two Echinomyia inter- 

 media (in bits) ; and two Pollenia fioralis 

 (likewise in bits) : twenty pieces in all. This 

 certainly makes a both plentiful and varied 

 bill of fare ; but, as the larva was only a third 

 of its ultimate size, the complete menu might 

 easily number as many as sixty items. 



It is not at all difficult to verify this sump- 

 tuous figure : I will myself take the place of 

 the Bembex in her maternal functions and 

 supply the larva with food till it is ready to 

 burst. I move the cell into a little cardboard 

 box which I furnish with a layer of sand. I 

 place the larva on this bed, with all due con- 

 sideration for its delicate skin. Around it, 

 without omitting a single fragment, I arrange 

 the provisions with which it was supplied. 

 Then I go home, still holding the box in my 

 hand, to avoid any shaking which might turn 

 the house upside down and endanger my charge 

 during a walk of several miles. Any one who 

 had met me on the dusty Nimes Road, dropping 

 with fatigue and religiously carrying in my 

 hand, as the sole fruit of my laborious trip, an 

 ugly grub battening on a heap of Flies, would 

 certainly have smiled at my simplicity. 



The journey was effected without damage : 

 when I reached home, the larva was placidly 

 eating its Flies as though nothing had happened. 



