Christmas decoration bells. A bow is usually used at the top or bottom, and an electric or unlit candle may be placed in the middle. Christmas lights are often used, and they may be hung from door or windows, and sometimes walls, lampposts and light fixtures, or even statuary. Since the 19th century, the poinsettia, a native plant from Mexico, has been associated with Christmas. In North and South America, Australia, and Europe, it is traditional to decorate the outside of houses with lights and sometimes with illuminated sleighs, snowmen, and other Christmas figures. Municipalities often sponsor decorations as well. Christmas banners
Christmas Island red crab years. In total (including killed), the ants are believed to have displaced 15–20 million red crabs on Christmas Island. During their larval stage, millions of red crab larvae are eaten by fish and large filter-feeders such as manta rays and whale sharks which visit Christmas Island during the red crab breeding season. Early inhabitants of Christmas Island rarely mentioned these crabs. It is possible that their current large population size was caused by the extinction of the endemic Maclear's rat, "Rattus macleari" in 1903, which may have limited the crab's population. Surveys have found a density of 0.09–0.57 adult red