But here the point of interrogation, already encountered elsewhere, erects itself once again.

Why is the larva of the Osmia, which thrives upon albumen, actually fed upon honey during its early life?
Why is a vegetable diet the rule in the hives of bees from the very commencement, when the other members of the same series live upon animal food?
If I were a "transformist" how I should delight in this question! Yes, I should say: yes, by the fact of its germ every animal is originally carnivorous.

The insect in particular makes a beginning with albuminoid materials.

Many larvae adhere to the alimentation present in the egg, as do many adult insects also.

But the struggle to fill the belly, which is actually the struggle for life, demands something better than the precarious chances of the chase.