I 



MOTHS. 299 



Hawk moths vary in size from medium to large. 

 They fly at dusk and in the night. The general 

 colour is from grey to brown; the hind wings are 

 often of bright colour. The moth is adapted for 

 swift flight by its rather pointed head and body. 

 Its eyes are large and keen, and it has a long 

 proboscis: we measured the tongue of Protoparce 

 and found it was 4 inches. These moths visit and 

 cross-pollinate long- tubed flowers such as the Bou- 

 vardiay and the moon flower (Ipomoea bona wo;r), etc. 



The larvse (Plate 36, Fig. 1), are smooth and are 

 often ornamented with transverse oblique bands of 

 yellow or white, and more rarely with eye-spots. 

 There is a prominent terminal spine usually present 

 on the upper part of the tail These larvae are 

 pale green in colour to blend with leaves, or they 

 may be brown. When about to pupate in the earth, 

 the pale green colour becomes blotched with fawn 

 or brown, and this protects the larvsB when crawling 

 on the ground. The pupa is curious in many species, 

 by having the mouth parts enclosed in a case which 

 is quite free from the body, except at the basal point 

 of attachment to the body (Plate 36, Fig. 2 a). This 

 mouth case is bent or coiled under the head. In 

 captivity, some larvae did not trouble to go under 

 the earth, but pupated on the surface, and one par- 

 tially enclosed itself in a silken cocoon; in this 

 case the lid was on the box and provided a measure 

 of darkness. 



Types. — The privet hawk moth (Sphinx ligustri) 

 The convolvulus hawk moth (Protoparce convol- 

 vuli), whose colour is of a general mottled grey and 



