NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



affectionate, and docile as the well-known Slender- 

 tailed Meerkat (Suricata tetradactyla) already re- 

 ferred to. Like the latter it is very useful in eating 

 up cockroaches and other troublesome insects. 

 The Banded Mungoose does a considerable service 

 to man in checking the too rapid increase of harmful 

 insects. It is one of the few animals which prey 

 largely on the insects in their larval or grub stage. 

 Its powers of smell are so highly developed that it 

 is able to locate the exact position of a grub under- 

 ground, and, with its sharp claws, digs it up and 

 devours it. These grubs are mostly the larvae of 

 vegetation-eating beetles, and during the period 

 they remain underground they feed upon the roots 

 of grasses, pasture plants, and agricultural produce. 

 It may be urged that out in the veld these insects 

 do little harm to the farmer beyond injuring pasture 

 plants, but it must be remembered that these larvae 

 or grubs emerge in due time from the ground in the 

 form of various winged insects which invade the 

 neighbouring cultivated fields and deposit their eggs 

 amongst the crops, and thus infect the farms with 

 insect pests which the farmer finds it impossible to 

 destroy, as they work unseen underground. Many 

 species of insects harmful to man, such as the Mi- 

 gratory Locust, multiply unchecked out in the wilds, 

 and afterwards spread broadcast over the country. 

 It would, therefore, be well for man to hesitate and 

 ponder carefully instead of coming to hasty con- 

 clusions and rashly taking the lives of the creatures 



