LEPIDOPTERA 



657 



they arc supposed to resemble the Egyptian Sphinx, and so the 

 typical genus was named Sphinx and the family the Sphingidce. 



Most species pass the pupa state in the ground in simple cells 

 made in the eaith; some, however, transform on the surface of the 

 ground in imperfect cocoons 

 composed of leaves fastened 

 together with silk. 



One hundred species of 

 hawk-moths occur in this 

 country. The following are 

 some of the more common 

 ones. 



The modest sphinx, Pa- 

 chysphinx modesta. — It was 

 probably the quiet olive 

 tints in which the moth is 

 chiefly clothed that suggest- 

 ed the name modesta for it, 

 but it is one of the most 

 beautiful of our 

 hawk-moths. The 

 bod^^ and basal 

 third of the fore 

 third of the fore 

 color; while the 



Fi?. 807. 

 larva. 



-Sphinx chersis, 



s are pale olive; the outer 

 wings is a darker shade of the same 

 middle third is still darker (Fig. 808) . 

 The hind wings are dull carmine red in the middle or, in the eastern 

 race, a deeper crimson; there is a bluish-gray patch with a curved 

 black streak over it near the anal angle. The larva feeds en poplar 

 and cotton-wood. \Arhen full-grown it is 75 mm. long, of a pale-green 



Fig. 808. — Pachysphinx modesta. 



color, and coarsely granulated, the granules studded with fine white 

 points, giving the skin a frosted appearance; these are wanting in 

 the western race. 



The twin-spotted sphinx, Smertnthus gemindtus. — This exquisite- 

 ly-colored moth expands about 60 mm. The thorax is gray with a 



