But this conformity of habits goes no farther. The Bembeces continue to bring provisions day by day, as the larva increases in size, a method easily practised in a burrow closed with a mere screen of loose sand, through which the mother passes easily in either direction. The Pelopæus has not the same facilities of ingress and egress: once the earthen jar is closed and sealed, she would have, in order to reenter the cell, to break the lid, which is now dry and would offer a resistance out of all proportion to the means at the disposal of the Wasp accustomed to handling fresh mud. Moreover, each of these laborious burglaries would have to be followed by a rebuilding, which also would be an arduous task. It is not therefore the Pelopæus’ practice to feed her offspring day by day; and the hoard of victuals is completed as swiftly as possible. If game be not abundant, if the atmospheric conditions be difficult, several days are required to fill the cell thoroughly. In favourable weather, an afternoon is sufficient. No matter what time the hunting may take, long or short according to circumstances, the laying of the egg at the bottom of the cell, on the first piece served, is a happy device on whose excellence I have already laid stress in my history of the Odynerus. The victuals provided for a cell fill it to the brim and are stacked in the order of acquisition, with the Spiders earliest in date at the bottom and the more recent on the surface. No subsidence, which would lead to a mixture of fresh game and high, is possible, because of the game’s long legs, which in most cases scrape against the walls of the cell with their stiff hairs. The larva, at the bottom of the heap and, moreover, intent upon the morsel attacked, thus proceeds from the oldest to the less old and always finds in front of its teeth, until the end of the meal, victuals that have not had time to spoil by decomposition. The egg is laid indifferently upon a large joint or a small, according to the chances of the first capture. It is white, cylindrical, slightly curved and measures three millimetres in length, with a diameter of rather less than one millimetre. [42] The spot that receives it on the Spider’s body varies hardly at all; it is at the beginning of the abdomen, towards the side. The new-born larva, as is usual with the Hunting Wasps, takes its first bite at the point where the pole of the egg containing the head was fixed. Thus, for its first mouthfuls, it has the juiciest and tenderest part, the Spider’s plump belly. Next comes the thorax, abounding in muscular tissues, and lastly the legs, dry morsels, but not despised. Everything goes down, from the best to the coarsest; and, when the meal is finished, there is practically nothing left of the whole heap of Spiders. This life of gluttony lasts for eight to ten days.