Ĭch-neū’mon, n.
(ik-nū′mon), n. [Lat., Gr. ἰχνεύμων, strictly the tracker, because it tracks or hunts out the eggs of the crocodile; from ἰχνεύειν, to track or hunt after, from ἴχνος, track, footstep; Copt. shathoul, Ar. nims.]
Egyptian Ichneumon (Herpestes Pharaonis).
Sense 1. (Zoöl.) A carnivorous animal of the genus Herpestes, which inhabits Egypt, and is said to be very destructive to the eggs of the crocodile, as it certainly is to those of poultry. It may be domesticated.
Sense 2. A genus of hymenopterous insects whose larvæ are parasitic in other insects. They are distinguished by having the abdomen attached to the hinder part of the thorax, just between the base of the hind legs, and often by a pedicel. These animals are great destroyers of caterpillars, plant-lice, and other insects, as the ichneumon is of the eggs and young of the crocodile.—Called also ichneumon-fly. Westwood.
