Time and distance have not altered the nature of the provisions.
The number of morsels served for the meal of each larva interests us more than the quality.

In the cells of Eumenes Amedei, I find sometimes five caterpillars and sometimes ten, which means a difference of a hundred per cent in the quantity of the food, for the morsels are of exactly the same size in both cases.

Why this unequal supply, which gives a double portion to one larva and a single portion to another?
The diners have the same appetite: what one nurseling demands a second must demand, unless we have here a different menu, according to the sexes.

In the perfect stage the males are smaller than the females, are hardly half as much in weight or volume.

The amount of victuals, therefore, required to bring them to their final development may be reduced by one-half.