ii FOOD OF INSECTS 45 



food, an instance of prudence and foresight unparal- 

 leled in the annals of the animal world. 



Ants go similarly in search of the cocci* or scale 

 insects, among them the valuable cochineal, and 

 several Homoptera,* such as Membracis and its allies ; 

 they are also intimately connected with a large 

 variety of beetles. Many of these, like the aphides, 

 live habitually with the ants ; at least between 

 thirty and forty different kinds of beetles arc rarely, 

 if ever, met with excepting in ants' nests. The reasons 

 for the retention of these normal boarders are un- 

 known. Many most curious functions have been 

 assigned to them, but a considerable proportion of the 

 co-habitants of the nest are in reality ant-cows. 

 Claviger beetles at the base of their elytra possess 

 tufts of tubular hairs which the ants take into their 

 mouths and lick, and also the whole of the upper 

 surface of the beetle's body, doubtless abstracting 

 some special secretion that affords satisfaction to their 

 palate. In return, the beetles are believed to be 

 maintained at the expense of their grateful hosts. 

 One quaint little claviger is blind, and is apparently 

 quite a dependent, having lost the faculty of feeding ; 

 at any rate it has never been seen to take refreshment 

 alone, this is invariably administered by the nursing 

 ants. 



For the most part, insects that feed on vegetables 

 will not touch animal matters, and vice versa, but the 

 rule is open to exception, notably as regards ants. 

 Many caterpillars, though plants are their proper 

 food, will occasionally exhibit depravity of taste, 

 and if kept with their own kind, or with the 



