LEPIDOPTERA. 



71 



DEILEPHILA NECHUS? 



Plate 40. fig. 1. 



Section. Crepuscularia, Latreille. 



Family. Sphingid^e, Leach. 



Genus. Deilephila, Ochsenh. Sphinx p. Linn. Sfc. 



Cn. Sp. D. " alls integris ; anticis viridibus ; striga testacea ; posticis nigris ; maculis b.iseos 

 fasciaque flavis." Fabric, loc. cit. subtus. Expans. alar. 3| unc. 

 D. with the wings entire, the anterior green with a testaceous streak, (" with testa- 

 ceous marks," Donov.) the posterior black with spots at the base, and a row of 

 spots near the extremity. Expanse of the wings 3| inches. 



Syn. Sphinx Nechus? Fabricius Ent. Syst. 3. \.p. 'ill. Cramer Ins. t. 178./. B. 



■The number of Chinese species of this genus, already described, is very limited : the 

 insect represented in the accompanying figures is the largest of them ; but as this is 

 inferior in size to several kinds found in Europe, we conceive there must remain many 

 larger species of the genus unknown to collectors of foreign insects, and yet very common 

 in China. In the latter part of Sir G. Staunton's work, that author mentions the larva 

 of a Sphinx Moth which furnish an article for the table of the Chinese. We regret that 

 the indefinite expression cannot assist us to determine the species, and scarcely the genus, 

 of the insect alluded to.* 



The specimen figured in the annexed plate was in the collection of Mr. Francillon, 

 who received it from China. The habitat of D. Nechus, given by Fabricius, is America ; 

 and Cramer has represented a small variety of the same species from North America. 



* European naturalists are entirely ignorant of the Chinese insects in the state of larva and pupa, if we 

 except a few species of the Cimices, Cicada, and some altogether uninteresting insects, that have been acci- 

 dentally brought among others from that country. Hence it must remain undetermined whether they correspond 

 in form with those of other parts of the world. It is, however, highly probable, from their great affinity to 

 those in the perfect state, that in the state of larva they may also agree. The extensive collection of the larvae 

 of sphinges made by Mr. Abbot in North America affords no singularly constructed animal distinct from those 

 found in Europe ; they vary indeed in their colours, but preserve uniformly the characters found on the same 

 genus in other countries. We noticed among the drawings of the late Mr. Bradshaw the figure of a Chinese 

 sphinx, apparently S. Hylas, together with a larva similar to that of the S. Stellatarum : it was green, and, 

 like all the known larvae of the family (except the Adscitce division), was perfectly free from hairs : it was also 

 furnished with a horn at the posterior part of the body. 



