1862.] 203 



quickly introduces within its body :i number of eggs, while against the 

 fatal attack, the poor victim has no adequate means of defense. Occasion- 

 ally the death of the larva follows, before its transfownatiou, but usually 

 it buries in tlie ground with sufficient vitality remaining to carry it through 

 its change. I have not obtained the parasite, but when the imago has 

 failed to appear in due time, an examination of my boxes has given me 

 the pupa case filled with the undeveloped parasitic pupae, resembling those 

 of the order of Diptera; the fact, however, of the eggs being deposited 

 within the body of the larva, instead of upon it, determines them to be of 

 the Ilymeiioptera. 



The very accurate description of the imago by Dr. Clemens in his Syn- 

 opsis of the Sphingidaj, needs nothing additional, beyond a few sexual 

 characteristics. The specimens before him were doubtless females. The 

 males in my collection present the following features : the discal spot is 

 fawn color, small; the subterminal lines and those crossing the basal por- 

 tion of the anterior wings are much less distinctly marked than in the op- 

 posite sex; the posterior wings have the subterminal band narrower and 

 better defined, and two lunated bands crossing their middle. 



From the small number of individuals in my possession, I am unable 

 to give the variation which this species ofiers. The variation presented 

 within the limit of a single brood — always interesting, but particularly so 

 in the attractive family of 8phingidte — I .shall be able to report hereafter, 

 if successful in obtaining the perfect insect from a fair proportion of my 

 pupa3. It will also afford a rare opportunity of noting to what extent, if 

 any, a marked departure in the larva, from its normal coloration, is repro- 

 ducible in the imago. 



