ICHNEUMON FLY 



2908 



ICONOCLASTS 



where foreign residents call it Pharaoh's rat. 

 It is covered with long, wiry fur of a grayish- 

 yellow color, and has black feet, tail and 

 muzzle. It feeds on rats and mice, birds and 

 reptiles, and is partial to poultry and their 

 eggs. It was highly 'esteemed by the Egyp- 



THE ICHNEUMON 



tians because of its enterprise in the destruc- 

 tion of the eggs of crocodiles. During the 

 overflow of the Nile it sometimes enters the 

 homes of man, but it usually limits its wander- 

 ings to the fields and river banks. The Indian 

 ichneumon, or mongoose, is smaller than the 

 African species and has pale-gray fur. It per- 

 forms invaluable service in its native land as 

 a serpent-killer, attacking and destroying all 

 sizes of reptiles with the greatest ferocity. See 

 MONGOOSE. 



ICHNEUMON FLY, one of a great order of 

 insects called hymenoptera, or membrane- 

 winged, the name ichneumon being derived 

 from that of an Egyptian animal known as the 

 ichneumon, or Pharaoh's rat, which devoured 

 the eggs and young of the crocodile. The word 

 ichneumon is from Greek words meaning the 

 tracker, from the habit of the animal just 

 named to seek its food in crocodiles' nests. 



These flies are parasitic and feed upon other 

 insects which destroy vegetation, caterpillars 



ICHNEUMON FLY 

 (a) The adult fly 

 (l>,c) Back and side view of larva 

 (d) Head of larva 



being especially subject. to their attacks. In 

 appearance they vary in size, but all are shiny- 

 black in color, with a wing spread of about 

 three-fourths of an inch and a body half an 



inch long. They deposit their eggs by means 

 of a special pointed ovipositor, or egg-deposi- 

 tor, either in or on the bodies or larvae of 

 other insects. The eggs hatch quickly, and 

 the grub feeds upon the body of the host 

 insect, becoming full-grown in four days, dur- 

 ing midsummer. On the whole, ichneumon 

 flies are beneficial insects, as they prevent 

 great damage to shade trees as well as to agri- 

 cultural crops, by destroying the tussock moth 

 and the army worm, which are special pests 

 of the farmer. 



ICHTHYOSAURUS, ik thi o sawr'us, a word 

 derived from two Greek words meaning fish 

 and lizard, and now applied by scientists to 

 the fossil remains of certain marine reptiles. 

 They had round tapering bodies, large heads, 

 long, powerful tails, and crude feet resembling 

 paddles. It is evident from remains found in 

 England and Europe that they once existed in 

 vast numbers. In size they varied greatly, 



SUPPOSED FORM OF THE ICHTHYOSAURUS 



some being over forty feet in length, while fos- 

 silized specimens only four feet long have been 

 found. Their food consisted of fish. About 

 thirty-five different species have been discov- 

 ered as fossils in widely-distributed parts of 

 the globe. They were apparently most numer- 

 ous on the south coast of England and parts of 

 the coast of Germany, but remains have been 

 found in South America, Australia, New Zea- 

 land and the East Indies. 



ICONOCLASTS, i kon'o klasts, a word de- 

 rived from the Greek eikon, meaning image, 

 and klan, meaning to break, hence applied to 

 the image breakers in the days of the early 

 Christian Church. There had long been a dis- 

 pute dividing the Church concerning the im- 

 ages of Christ and the saints which were placed 

 in all churches. In the eighth century the 

 dispute came to a climax. In 726 Leo III 

 issued an edict condemning the worship of 

 images and the burning of incense in their 

 honor. Many images were destroyed, and the 



