Hudson.— On Macro-lepidoptera. 359 



asleep. The butterflies were simply perched on the outside 

 foliage of a macrocarpa tree, and were quite readily seen, 

 though the bright-yellow colouring of the closed wings 

 suggested a faded leaf. This resemblance would, however, 

 afford the insect very efficient protection whilst resting 

 asleep amongst the foliage of many of the native shrubs, 

 the faded leaves of which are, in many instances, yellow in 

 colour. In such situations its destruction bv nocturnal 

 enemies would, no doubt, thus be largely obviated. 



Sphinx convolvuli. 



This insect is generally very irregular in its appearance. 

 Last summer, however, it was reported by Mr. Grant as very 

 plentiful at Wanganui, and by Messrs. F. G. Gibbs and E. I. 

 Kingsley as abundant in the Nelson District. 



Chserocampa celerio, Linn. Plate XXII. , fig. 1. 



Four specimens of this insect, which, so far as I am 

 aware, has not been previously met with in New Zealand, 

 were taken in Nelson last summer — one specimen, appa- 

 rently the first, by Mr. Kingsley the week before Christmas, 

 another by Mr. Frank Whitwell shortly afterwards, a third by 

 Mr. Edward Mules on 24th February, and a fourth by Mr. 

 Gibbs a few days later. The occurrence of this insect in New 

 Zealand is of excessive interest, as prior to this discovery 

 the family Sphingidce was only represented in this country 

 by a single, almost cosmopolitan, species, i.e., Sphinx con- 

 volvuli. It will be interesting to see if the newcomer is per- 

 manently established, and collectors should be specially on 

 the watch to detect further specimens. 



The expansion of the wings is about 3 in. The fore wings 

 are brownish-ochreous, with short black and silvery lougi- 

 tudinal lines, and a shining silvery wavy streak, divided by 

 two fine brownish lines running from the base of the dorsum 

 to the apex, below which are whitish longitudinal lines running 

 along the dorsum. A little below the middle of the costa is 

 a black spot in a pale ring. The hind wings are rose-colour, 

 with the termen and a central streak broadly black. The 

 intermediate rosy band is also divided by black veins. The 

 larva is green or brown, with black eye-like markings on the 

 fifth and sixth segments, with white pupils, and enclosed in 

 slender yellow rings. The horn is slender and long and 

 straight. The larva feeds on the vine." (Kirby.) 



G. celerio occurs rarely in Britain south of the Caledonian 

 Canal, and in the north of Ireland, but only as an occasional 

 immigrant. It is a very widely distributed species, otherwise 

 ranging through west, central, and southern Europe, south 

 Asia, Africa, and Australia. 



