Réaumur goes on to speak of the victuals heaped up in the cells, the “green grubs [22],” as he calls them, heedless of the ugly alliteration. Not having seen the same things, because my Odynerus is of a different species, I will continue my story. I counted the head of game in three cells only: the colony was a small one; I had to deal tenderly with it if I would follow its history to the end. In one of the cells, before the provisions were broached, I counted twenty-four pieces; in each of the two others, which were likewise intact, I counted twenty-two. Réaumur found only eight to twelve pieces in the larder of his Odynerus; and Dufour, in the store-room of his, discovered a batch of ten to twelve. Mine requires twice as many, a couple of dozen, which may be due to the smaller size of the game. No predatory Wasp of my acquaintance, apart from the Bembeces, [23] who obtain their supplies from day to day, approaches this prodigality in numbers. Two dozen grub-worms to make a meal for only one! How far removed are we from the single caterpillar of the Hairy Ammophila! And what delicate precautions must be taken for the safety of the egg in the midst of such a crowd! A scrupulous vigilance is necessary here, if we would obtain a true conception of the dangers to which the Odynerus’ egg is exposed and of the means that save it from danger. And, in the first place, what variety of game is this? It consists of worms as thick as a knitting-needle and varying slightly in length. The biggest measure a centimetre. [24] The head is small, of an intense, glossy black. The segments, unlike those of the caterpillars, have no legs, either true or false, but all, without exception, are furnished with ambulatory organs in the shape of a pair of small fleshy nipples. These worms, though of the same species, to judge by their general characteristics, differ in colouring. They are a pale, yellowish green, with two wide longitudinal stripes of pale pink in some and of a more or less deep green in others. Between these two stripes, on the back, runs a streak of pale yellow. The whole body is sprinkled with little black tubercles, each bearing a hair on its crest. The absence of legs proves that they are not caterpillars, not the larvæ of Butterflies or Moths. According to Audouin’s experiments, Réaumur’s “green grubs” are the larvæ of a Weevil, Phytonomus variabilis, an inhabitant of the lucerne-fields. Can my worms, pink or green, also belong to some little Weevil? It is quite possible. Réaumur described the grubs composing the victuals of his Odynerus as alive; he tried to rear some, hoping to see a Fly or a Beetle appear from them. Léon Dufour, on his side, called them live caterpillars. The mobility of the game provided escaped neither of the two observers; they had before their eyes grubs that moved about and gave full signs of life.