OF WASHINGTON. 61 



The general characteristics of the moth are sufficiently striking 

 to make it readily recognizable. The length of body is 65 mm., 

 or about 2^ in. ; wing-expanse, 115 mm., or 4^ in. The general 

 color is a dark velvety brown. The markings of the back of 

 the thorax, dark brown and orange colored, present such a re 

 semblance to a skull as to have led to the popular name, Death's- 

 Head Moth. The abdomen is dark brown, each segment bear 

 ing a quadrangular blotch of yellow on either side of the dorsal 

 line. The anterior wings are dark brown, marked with irregu 

 lar black stripes and a lighter blotch of buff color toward the 

 outer edge ; the posterior wings orange yellow with two trans 

 verse bars of black the outer one broader and less well-defined 

 than the inner one. 



The larvae of this moth are most frequently found feeding on va 

 rious species of Solanum, as the potato, bitter-sweet, etc., but they 

 will also feed upon jasmine (Jasminum ojficinalc} , thorn-apple 

 {Datura stramonium) , etc. It is only the imago, which ap 

 pears the latter part of summer, that does any damage to honey 

 bees this damage being not to the bodies of the bees themselves 

 except incidentally when the moth attempts to escape their at 

 tacks when it is caught pilfering their honey or attempting to 

 do so. 



But before taking up this part ot my subject some reference to 

 the note uttered by the moth will be of interest, especially as by 

 this means the moth is said to terrify the bees. It is a shrill 

 stridulation often loud enough to be heard at least ten or twelve 

 rods away. 



"It is somewhat strange," says Henry Edwards in Insect 

 Life*, vol. ii, p. 13, that in this age of entomological research 

 the means by which the sound is produced by this species is yet 

 unknown, comparative anatomists being considerably at variance 

 in their opinions on the subject." Reaumur and Roesel have 

 attributed it to friction produced by the labial palpi. Passerini 

 (Osservazioni, Pisa, 1828) locate.d the sound in the head of the 

 insect, where there is a cavity connected with its spiral tongue. 

 De Johet and Vallot (LTnstitut, 1834, p. 4) think the sound is 

 due to the sudden impelling of air by means of the wings, 

 against the scales at the base of the latter. Lorey and Goreau 

 think it is due to the expelling of air through orifices in the sides 

 of the abdomen, which openings are covered with fine hairs. 

 Westvvood points out that this cannot be so, as other Lepidoptera 

 having these holes are mute. Kirby and some others state that 

 the larva produces a squeaking sound when captured. These are 

 but a few of the many references which have been made by ento 

 mological authorities to the strange sound produced by this 

 Acherontia a sound whose production is still something of a 

 mystery. This noise, so exceptional with Lepidoptera, together 



