The Bembex i^rj 



economy which the mother would have shown ; 

 there was perhaps some waste in the daily 

 provisions served all at one time and left entirely 

 to the grub's discretion. In some respects I 

 feel inclined to believe that things do not 

 happen just like that in the maternal cell, for 

 my notes contain such details as the following. 

 In the alluvial sands of the Durance I discover 

 a burrow which the Wasp {Bembex oculata) 

 has just entered with a Sarcophaga agricola. 

 Inside I find a larva, numerous fragments and 

 a few whole Flies, namely, four Sphcerophoria 

 scripta, one Onesia viarum and two Sarcophaga 

 agricola, including the one which the Bembex 

 has just brought along before my eyes. Now 

 it is worthy of remark that half of this game, 

 namely, the Sphserophorise, is right at the end 

 of the cell, under the larva's very teeth, whereas 

 the other half is still in the passage, on the 

 threshold of the cell, and therefore beyond the 

 reach of the grub, which is unable to change its 

 position. It seems to me then that, when game 

 is plentiful, the mother lays her captures on the 

 threshold of the cell for the time and forms 

 a reserve on which she draws as and when 

 necessary, especially on rainy days when all 

 labour is at a standstill. 



Thus practised with economy, the distribu- 

 tion of food would save a waste which I was not 



