le to tell the
number of items provided. The heads, abdomens and thoraxes, emptied of
their fleshy substance and reduced to the tough outer skin, are easily
counted. If the larva has chewed these overmuch, the wings at least are
left; these are sapless organs which the Philanthus absolutely scorns.
They are likewise spared by moisture, putrefaction and time, so much
so that it is no more difficult to take an inventory of a cell several
years old than one of a recent cell. The essential thing is not to
overlook any of these tiny relics while placing them in the paper bag,
amid the thousand incidents of the excavation. The rest of the work will
be done in the study, with the aid of the lens, taking the remains heap
by heap; the wings will be separated from the surrounding refuse
and counted in sets of four. The result will give the amount of the
provisions. I do not recommend this task to any one who is not endowed
with a good stock of patience, nor above all to any one who does not
start with the conviction that results of great interest are compatible
with very modest means.

My inspection covers a total of one hundred and thirty-six cells, which
are divided as in the table below:

2 cells each containing 1 Bee
52 cells each containing 2 Bees
36 cells each containing 3 Bees
36 cells each containing 4 Bees
9 cells each containing 5 Bees
1 cell containing 6 Bees
---
136

The Mantis-hunting Tachytes consumes its heap of Mantes, the horny
envelope included, without leaving any remains but scanty crumbs, quite
insufficient to establish the number of items provided. After the
meal is completed, any inventory of the rations becomes impossible. I
therefore have recourse to the cells which still contain the egg or the
very young larva and, above all, to those whose provisions have been
invaded by a tiny parasitic Gnat, a Tachina (Cf. "The Hunting Wasps":
chapters 4 and 16.--Translator's Note.), which drains the game without
cutting it up and leaves the whole skin intact. Twenty-five larders, put
to the count, give me the following result:

8 cells each containing 3 items
5 cells each containing 4 items
4 cells each containing 6 items
3 cells each containing 7 items
2 cells each containing 8 items
1 cell containing 9 items
1 cell containing 12 items
1 cell containing 16 items
---