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In ancient times thought to devour crocodile eggs
Answer for the clue "In ancient times thought to devour crocodile eggs ", 9 letters:
ichneumon
Alternative clues for the word ichneumon
Word definitions for ichneumon in dictionaries
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ichneumon \Ich*neu"mon\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?, lit., the tracker; so called because it hunts out the eggs of the crocodile, fr. ? to track or hunt after, fr. 'i`chnos track, footstep.] (Zo["o]l.) Any carnivorous mammal of the genus Herpestes , and family ...
Wikipedia
Word definitions in Wikipedia
Ichneumon may refer to: Ichneumon (genus) , genus of wasps Ichneumonidae , family of ichneumon wasps Egyptian mongoose , Herpestes ichneumon Indian gray mongoose , Herpestes edwardsii Ichneumon (medieval zoology) , the enemy of the dragon in medieval literature ...
Wiktionary
Word definitions in Wiktionary
n. 1 The (vern: Egyptian mongoose), (taxlink Herpestes ichneumon species noshow=1), found in Africa and southern Europe. 2 The ichneumon wasp.
WordNet
Word definitions in WordNet
n. northern African mongoose; in ancient times thought to devour crocodile eggs [syn: Herpestes ichneumon ]
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Word definitions in Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
1570s, originally a weasel-like animal in Egypt, Latinized from Greek ikhneumon , literally "searcher, tracker," perhaps because it hunts crocodile eggs, from ikhneuein "hunt for, track," from ikhnos "a track, footstep, trace, clue," of unknown origin. ...
Usage examples of ichneumon.
But natural selection can and does often produce structures for the direct injury of other species, as we see in the fang of the adder, and in the ovipositor of the ichneumon, by which its eggs are deposited in the living bodies of other insects.
The pig and the wild boar, the long-eared hare, the hedgehog, the ichneumon, the moufflon, or maned sheep, innumerable gazelles, including the Egyptian gazelles, and antelopes with lyre-shaped horns, are as much West Asian as African, like the carnivors of all sizes, whose prey they are--the wild cat, the wolf, the jackal, the striped and spotted hyenas, the leopard, the panther, the hunting leopard, and the lion.
While as an earwitness he was able to tell how many wheat beetles, including pupas and doodle bugs, how many ichneumon flies and flour beetles resided in it, he was able with his ear to the sack to indicate the exact number of mealworms -- Tenebrio molitor-- present in a hundredweight of wheat flour.
Does an ichneumon wasp study ornithology before it finds the one species of spider that will do for her eggs, and stings it just so in order that it may remain alive?