SPHINX. 
217 
into the chrysalis state, in the month of August or 
September, and in the following June appears the 
complete insect. 
But the largest and most remarkable, if not the 
most beautiful European insect of this genus, is 
the Sphmx Atropos of Linnaeus, which very con- 
siderably exceeds in size both the species already 
mentioned. The upper wings are of a fine dark 
grey colour, with a few slight variegations of dull 
orange and white: the under wings are of a bright 
orange-colour, marked by a pair of transverse 
black bands: the body is also orange-coloured, 
wdth the sides marked by black bars, while along 
the top of the back, from the thorax to the tail, 
runs a broad blue-grey stripe: on the top of the 
thorax is a very large patch of a most singular 
appearance, exactly representing the usual figure 
of a skull or death’s head, and is of a pale gre}", 
varied with dull ochre-colour and black. When 
in the least disturbed or irritated, this insect emits 
a stridulous sound, something like the squeaking 
of a bat or mouse, and from this circumstance, as 
well as from the mark above-mentioned on the 
thorax, is held in much dread by the vulgar in 
several parts of Europe, its appearance being re- 
garded as a kind of ill omen, or harbinger of ap- 
proaching fate. We are informed by the cele- 
brated Reaumur that the members of a female 
Convent in France were thrown into great con- 
sternation at the appearance of one of these in- 
sects, which happened to fly in during the evening 
at one of the windows of the dormitory. The 
