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 larve 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 larve 
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 
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