INDIRECT BENEFITS DERIVED FROM INSECTS. 281 



dermined by these grubs would soon die : they also dig 

 up the larvae of the destructive Cicada septendecim, 

 called the American locust a , on which, when in their 

 perfect state, the squirrels are said to grow fat b . The 

 badger, Lesser informs us, will eat beetles : and its kins- 

 man the bear has the character of being very fond of ants 

 and of honey ; which last is also said to be a favourite 

 article with the fox, who has sometimes the audacity to 

 overturn bee-hives 5 and even to attack wasps' nests in 

 search of it. He will also eat beetles. 



Sparrman has given an amusing account of the honey- 

 ratel, (Viverra mellivora,) which has a particular instinct 

 enabling it to discover bees, and attack them in their 

 entrenchments. Near sun-set the ratel will sit and hold 

 one of his paws before his eyes, in order to get a distinct 

 view of the object of his pursuit ; and when, in conse- 

 quence of his peering about in this manner, he sees any 

 bees flying, he knows that at this time of the day they 

 are making for their habitations, whither he follows them, 

 and so attains his end c . Another species of Viverra 

 (V. prehensilis) is also reputed to be an eager insect- 

 hunter. The young armadillos feed on a species of 

 locust ; but no quadruped can with more propriety be 

 called insectivorous than the ant-eaters (Mi/rmecophaga), 

 which, as their name imports, live upon ants. The great 

 ant-eater, when he comes to an ant-hill, scratches it up 

 with his long claws, and then unfolds his slender worm- 

 like tongue, (which is more than two feet long, and wet 

 with saliva,) and when covered with ants draws it back 

 into his mouth and swallows thousands of them alive, 



a Bingley, iii. 27. b Collinson in Philos. Trans. 1763. 



t- Sparnnan, ii. 180. 



