Chance postpones this piece of luck, which I cannot expect to achieve at once, since nothing on the surface guides my search.

But at last I am rewarded, and the larva is just beginning its excavation.

An inch of tunnel, free of all waste or rubbish, and at the bottom the chamber, the place of rest; so far has the work proceeded.

And the worker--in what condition is it?
Let us see.
The larva is much paler in colour than those which I have caught as they emerged.

The large eyes in particular are whitish, cloudy, blurred, and apparently blind.