82 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [April, 



ELEMENTARY ENTOMOLOGY. 



LEPIDOPTERA-HETEROCERA (Moths). 

 By Prof. JOHN B. SMITH, New Brunswick, N. J. 



The first of the Heterocerous families is the Sphingidae. This 

 family comprises moths of rather large size, the thorax robust, 

 the abdomen elongate and tapering in most cases, and usually 

 considerably exceeding the anal angle of the secondaries. The 

 head is well developed as a rule, and the antennae are usually 

 fusiform and more or less prismatic; that is to say, they are 

 rather thicker in the middle and taper both to base and tip, more 

 so toward the tip, which is generally furnished with a little re- 

 curved hook. The prismatic shape is usually quite marked in 

 the species, and is a peculiarity of the family. The primaries, 

 or fore-wings, are rather long and narrow in most cases, often 

 more or less evidently lanceolate, the secondaries or hind wings 

 proportionately quite small and narrow. As a whole, the wings 

 are small, compared with the bulk of the insect. The venation 

 throughout the family is quite constant. The primaries may 

 have eleven or twelve veins, according as 9 is, or is not branched 

 near its tip. The entire subcostal series is crowded closely to the 

 costa, so that it is difficult to follow the course of all after vein 7. 

 Vein 5 is nearly midway between 4 and 6, and the cell is closed 

 in those species known to me. Vein i, the submedian or internal 

 vein, is furcate at base. 



On the secondaries the costal and subcostal arise independently 

 from the base and run separately to their termination, joined, 

 however, near the base by an oblique cross-vein, which is char- 

 acteristic of the family. Here also vein 5 is from near the middle 

 of the cross-vein, and there are two internal veins. 



The larvae of the Sphingidae are as easily recognizable as the 

 images by the curved spine or horn on the top of the terminal 

 segment. In the species in which this horn is wanting there is 

 a shiny tubercle or knob, occupying the position of the more 

 usual process. The pupation is subterranean in most cases. 



Compact as is the family in general appearance and main struc- 

 tural features, it divides readily into a number of well marked 

 subfamilies. 



The Macroglossinae are easily distinguished by the rather ob- 



