THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 33 



THE GENERIC POSITION OF SPHINX SEPARATUS NEUM. 



BY T. D. A. COCKERELL, 

 Boulder, Colorado. 



On Aug. 23, 1918, a strange sphingid larva was found in a tomato patch 

 at 905 Lincoln Avenue, Boulder, Colorado. It was about 110 mm. long, with 

 a diameter of 16 mm.; head black, with a dark red stripe on each side; general 

 colour of body creamy-white, with black and dilute black markings, the under 

 side plumbeous. The caudal horn was small and black. The most conspicuous 

 markings were on the dorsum of thorax, and were large and intense black; 

 consisting of a trilobed or trefoil-like mark behind the head, with a short stem 

 to the anterior margin of the segment, and a much larger broad, elongate mark 

 on the hinder part of thorax, the interval between these markings having a pink 

 suffusion. The thorax also had three round black spots on each side. Beyond 

 the thorax, the dorsum was ornamented by transverse rows of small spots.and 

 laterally by short, oblique, black marks, directed dorso-cephalad, i. e., in an 

 opposite direction from that of the lateral stripes of Sphinx. From the caudal 

 horn, however, a short, black band passed anteriorly on each side, homologous 

 with a similarly placed marking in Sphinx. In the middle of the body, also, 

 the oblique stripes of Sphinx were more or less distinctly developed, as rather 

 short, dark bars, dorsally. A more or less distinct + -shaped mark was behind 

 the larger thoracic patch, and a similar one anterior to the caudal horn. 



This peculiar larva, very unlike that of Sphinx, produced a pupa in which 

 the maxillary loop is about 22.5 mm. long, not allowing for the curvature, and 

 strongly arched from the surface of the body (distant from it at one point as 

 much as 5 mm.), with the end bulbous. The metathoracic ridge, about 6.5 mm. 

 long, is only very narrowly interrupted in middle, the interval less than half a 

 mm. Dorsally, the abdominal segments are strongly punctate anteriorly. 

 The spiracular furrows are deep and about 4 mm. long, not extending ventrad 

 of the spiracle; excepting, however, the posterior furrow of the first pair, which 

 is longer, and goes ventrad of the spiracle by a distance almost equal to the 

 length of the latter. Pupa is about 53 mm. long; colour dark chestnut red. 



Judging from the pupa, and following the characters so admirably pre- 

 sented by Dr. Edna Mosher, this insect should have been a Protoparce. The 

 moth, however, is Sphinx separaius Neum.! This species does not seem to me 

 to be a true or typical Sphinx. The antennae are curved at the end, approach- 

 ing the condition of Protoparce, and the markings of thorax and anterior wings 

 are very Protoparce-Wke. The black and white lateral banding of the abdomen, 

 and the heavy (coalesced) bands on the hind wings are striking specific charac- 

 ters. On the under side the resemblance to Protoparce sexta is quite close. 

 The eyes, in .S^/n'w.r-fashion, have very long lashes, but P. sexta has evident 

 though much shorter ones. Mr. B. Preston Clark, working with the adult 

 insects, kindly tells me that he cannot find adequate grounds for subdividing 

 Sphinx, of which he has before him all the known species but two. Neverthe- 

 less, in view of the peculiar larva, and especially the characters of the pupa, 

 tar more striking than those used to separate the moths of the two genera in 

 question, it seems necessary to regard S. separatus as the type of a distinct 

 subgenus or possibly genus. For this I will propose the name Mesosphinx. 



February, 1920 



