INDIRECT BENEFITS DERIVED FROM INSECTS. 255 



hornets also come in for their portion of the spoil ; and 

 even ants, which prowl every where, rival their giant com- 

 petitors in the quantity consumed by them ; so that in no 

 very long time, especially in warm climates, the muscular 

 covering is removed from the skeleton, which is then 

 cleansed from all remains of it by the little Corynetes cce- 

 ruleus and riificollis, (which last is so interesting, as hav- 

 ing been the means of saving the life of Latreille 3 ,) and 

 several Nitidulcs b . Even the horns of animals have an ap- 

 propriate genus ( Trox) which inhabits them, and feeds 

 upon their contents. And not only are large animals 

 thus disposed of, even the smallest are not suffered lono- 

 to annoy us. The burying beetle (Necrophorus Vespillo, 

 F.) inters the bodies of small animals, such as mice, se- 

 veral assisting each other in the work ; and those to which 

 they commit their eggs afford an ample supply of food to 

 their larvae c . Ants also in some degree emulate these bu- 

 rying insects, at least they will carry off the carcases of in- 

 sects into their nests ; and I once saw some of the horse- 

 ants dragging away a half-dead snake of about the size 

 of a goose-quill d . Some insects will even attack living ani- 

 mals and make them their prey, thus contributing to keep 



a See Latr. Gen. i. 275. 



b This property in the carrion insects may be turned to a good ac- 

 count by the comparative anatomist, who has only to flay the body 

 of one of the smaller animals, anoint it with honey, and bury it in an 

 ant-hill ; and in a short time he will obtain a perfect skeleton, denu- 

 dated of every fibril of muscle, though with the ligaments and carti- 

 lages untouched. 



c Gleditsch, Abhandlungen, iii. 200. 



d It is to be observed that in our cold climates, during the winter 

 months, when excrement and putrescent animal matter are not so 

 offensive, they are left to the action of the elements, insects being 

 then torpid, 



