HUNTING DIPTERA
Too Long; Didn't Read
After this bill of fare for Bembecids in the larva state, we must seek the motive which causes these Hymenoptera to adopt a mode of storage exceptional among Fossors. Why, instead of laying up sufficient food and dropping an egg on it, which would allow the cell to be closed at once without need of returning, does the Hymenopteron oblige itself to come and go perpetually for a fortnight from the fields to the burrow and back again, toiling every time through the sand to issue forth and hunt, or bring back prey? The explanation is that the food must be fresh—an all-important matter, for the grub absolutely refuses game which is at all high, with a hint of decay; like the larvæ of all Fossors, it must have fresh provisions—always fresh provisions.