PEOGRESS IN THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE SPHINGIDES. 63 



the four great families into which he subdivided the second division of 

 the Lepidoptera-Heterocera,a division which comprised the C'j't7)».sc»Z«/7rt 

 or twilight-liying insects, the four famihes being the Zi/i/aenidae, 

 Siihiuiiitlac, Sesiidae and Ai'i/criidcu'. This division {Crcjiiiscidaria) 

 corresponds with the Spliin.i' of Linne, and Stephens separates the four 

 famihes thus: 



( breves : abdomen \ ''^"^ i'^^'^^^;'^^ " " • ' ^ ^>^>jjfdae. 



p 1 • J ( ano barbato . . . . 6 Sexitdne. 



[elongata^: ala. js^pissime hyalinaa.. 4 Aef,enidae. 



^ ° ( squamis tectae .. 1 Zy[iueniaae. 



It will be noticed that by this time primary generic divisions had 

 come to be considered as families, and secondary divisions as genera, 

 owing to the fact that subdivision left no alternative. The Sji/iini/idi's, 

 as now understood, comprised the SpJdnt/idae and Sesiidae in the 

 Stephensian subdivision. Into the Sedidae were placed such species 

 •cia /ltd foniiis and boinhi/lifuniiis. This subdivision, although perhaps 

 from the modern standpoint too high a one, was, while not in name, 

 yet, in fact, the beginning of the creation of subfamilies. The use of 

 the name SesHdae here must not be confounded with its present 

 application, since Stephens used Aeijedidae for the internal-feeding 

 " clearwings,'' tipulifonnia, apifoniiia, &c. The limited family 

 Sphiniiidae is thus defined by Stephens : " Antennae prismatic, 

 sometimes serrated towards the middle, ciliated slightly in the males, 

 terminated by a scaly seta or naked filiform appendage. Palpi short, 

 three-jointed, densely clothed with hair or scales ; the terminal joint 

 minute. Abdomen conical not tufted at the tip. Larvas exposed, 

 cylindrical and attenuated anteriorly, with a horn on the last segment, 

 naked, sometimes granulated ; the sides frequently with oblique or 

 longitudinal stripes. Pupa subterranean or suttbliculated. Four 

 genera are tabulated as follows : 



("plus minusve angulatffi .. .. .. .. .. .. Smerinthus. 



Alse integm, acutEE. Maxillffi '^^'^^'^^ •• ■■, " • , ;• ^i'^^r'"'*"' ■ 



1 elongate; antennae J h^^^^^l'^^'^ta^ ^phm.r 

 \ V & ' (clavatee .. Dcdephilu. 



Following Stephens came Herrich-Schiiffer, Avho, in 1845, published 

 the first part of the Heterocera in his work SdnnettcrUwje vmi Kurnpa. 

 The advent of this work marked an epoch in the advance of the classifi- 

 cation of the lepidoptera generally, and the Sjdiitujidets A\ere defined more 

 satisfactorily than ever. The family (the 19th in series) was formed 

 of the four genera Macnxjluasa [ = Sesia, Stephens), SpJnn.v, Acherontia 

 and SiiierintJiKs, whilst the superfamily preceding the Sidiinf/ides was 

 the Till/ rid ides and that succeeding it the Saturniades. The Sphimjidt's 

 are as a family thus defined : " Quite large to fairly small, strongly 

 built lepidoptera, with elongated fore-wings, with the outer margin 

 slightly shorter than the inner margin ; hindwings small. No ocelli, 

 palpi three-jointed, heavily clothed with hair, lying close to the head, 

 with inner surfaces hollowed out, in which lies the proboscis, externally 

 convex, the second joint thicker than basal and the third extremely 

 small, only slightly discernible above the hair of the second joint, 

 frequently almost entirely enveloped in hair ; the antennae somewhat 

 more slender near the base and at the tip, the thickening terminating 

 in an angle which, viewed beneath, has a central longitudinal ridge ; 

 in the angle this bears two rows of ]:)ristles on each of the surfaces 

 forming the middle ridge, the one at the front margin the other at the 



