Mass provisioning

Mass provisioning is a form of parental investment[1] in which an adult insect, most commonly a hymenopteran such as a bee or wasp, stocks all the food for each of her offspring in a small chamber (a "cell") before she lays the egg.

Some wasp lineages (e.g. Crabronidae) show variation, with some species practicing mass provisioning, while related species may bring back prey after the egg has hatched, and then seal the nest (such "delayed provisioning" is considered to be a stage in the evolution of progressive provisioning[4] and thus of parental care in insects[5]), or re-open the nest and add more prey items as the larva grows, which is genuine progressive provisioning.

The nest consists of a single cell, and the egg is laid touching the coxa of a hind leg.

[7] No eusocial wasp species carries out mass provisioning in the strict sense, though the vespid wasp genus Brachygastra stores provisions of honey in its nests; the honey is used to supplement larval feeding (larvae are still fed masticated prey items, for protein), and also eaten by adults.

Once the provisions are in place and the egg is laid, the cell is sealed, to protect the developing brood.