84 The Irish Naturalist. June, 



with faint side lines of darker colour and black spiracles, 

 the tail-horn was yellow with a black tip, a known form 

 of this variable caterpillar. 



There are also other reasons for believing that the insect 

 seldom breds in Britain. Mr. J. W. Tutt^ states there is 

 evidence that the late moths are " killed off by the cold 

 without depositing their eggs, and that they are exter- 

 minated every winter following their appearance in this 

 country." He goes much further than this when he sug- 

 gests that it rarely survives the winter in the greater part 

 of Europe and Northern Asia, the specimens taken in those 

 regions being almost all immigrants or the direct descendants 

 of immigrants from warmer climates. Nevertheless the 

 moth is probably increasing in many northern localities, 

 and we may yet see it established as a breeding species in 

 Britain. 



In view of last year's invasion by this hawk-moth it is 

 likely that the caterpillar or pupa may be found in Ireland 

 during the coming season and consequently a short note 

 on the life-history may be of some use. 



The eggs are said to be laid on the food plants which, 

 in these countries, are the common bindweeds Convolvulus 

 arvensis and C. septum. The caterpillar may be sought 

 for in June and July ; it is a large creature measuring four 

 inches when fully grown and the colour may vary from a 

 uniform light green to a dark brown with yellow and grey 

 markings. The tail-horn may be black, or fawn, or yellow 

 tipped with black. When full-fed it enters the ground 

 and changes to a large reddish-brown pupa which may be 

 recognised as the species by the separate proboscis sheath 

 which projects well below the head. It remains buried for 

 about four weeks and the moth usually emerges in August. 

 The pupa has been frequently dug up in potato fields where 

 the bindweed is common. It was at one time thought that 

 the caterpillars were in the habit of concealing themselves 

 amongst earth or dead leaves during the daytime, com.ing 

 out at night to feed. Professor Poulton and other ento- 

 mologists have pubHshed interesting accounts of the rearing 



* " British Lepidoptera," vol. iv., p. 376. 



