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CHAPTER XIV. 



SCAVENGERS ANTS, FLIES, AND BEETLES. 



Ants employed by Naturalists, Destruction of "Specimens,'' Black Ants, 

 Red Ants, Fire Ants Ants bury their dead "Horse Ants," "Tra- 

 velling Ants" Extermination of Vermin, difficulty of guarding against 

 Fire-ants, Mushroom -growing Ants Scavengers kept by Ants and 

 Spiders Three Flies equal to a Lion Keen Sense of Smell Beetles 

 feed on Animal and Vegetable Matter Burying Beetles Carrion 

 Beetles Skin-eaters 'Skeleton-makers Cock-tails Scarabeeus 

 Dumbledor Moths. 



AMONG the most valuable natural scavengers of Ceylon 

 are the ants, for they never sleep, work night and day, 

 and remove every particle of decaying or putrid matter in a 

 marvellously short time. 



They are often turned to account by the naturalist, who 

 gives them his shells to clean, and finds that in a few days 

 they remove every vestige of the dead mollusk, even from 

 the innermost whorls and recesses, which he could not 

 himself by any means reach. A bird, or other small animal, 

 if buried near an ants' nest, in a box pierced with a few 

 holes, will speedily be converted into a perfect and most 

 delicately whitened skeleton by these industrious creatures. 



The said naturalist may, however, have reason to com- 

 plain bitterly of his little servants at times, for they are not 

 discriminating, and unless he be on his guard against them, 

 he may find his most valuable collections of insects either 

 totally destroyed or cut up into pieces of a convenient size 



