1 70 THE entomologist's record. 



As regards food-j^lants, sallow, black poplar, Lombardy j^oplar and 

 aspen, are mentioned by Eev. S. St. John ; Stainton gives birch ; 

 Newman, the common laurel and laurestiniis ; Mr. Kirby, willow ; Mr. 

 Barrett, rose. I tried feeding some young larvae on laurestinus and 

 birch, but the attempt failed utterly, although I found, as Mr. Prout had 

 told me, that they would eat apple freely. 



The Pup.e. — The pupte of S. tilae and S. oceUatns are enclosed in a 

 frail cell or cocoon, composed of earth spun together with a few slight 

 silk threads. In the case of S. pojnili, I could find no trace of silk, nor 

 were the pupa? enclosed in a cell, although they were supplied with the 

 same material as the others in which to pupate. As a rule, those of S. 

 poptdi are only just beneath the surface, while the larvae of S. tiliaearxd 

 S. ocellatuif burrow to a depth of several inches. The difference be- 

 tween the jnipse of Smerinthus and those of the rest of the Sphmgidae, 

 is very striking ; the chief points are the shortness of the wing-cases 

 and the complete absence of the sheath of the tongue, in addition to 

 which, they are thicker and more rounded, the head is small and does 

 not project so far, and the small size of the eye-cases is very noticeable. 

 On the surface, the pup^ of S. tiliae and <S. jwpnli are much alike, the 

 latter being rather the rougher of the two ; the scar left by the anal 

 claspers is very distinct in both species. In colour, the pupa of S. tiliae 

 is of a deep red-brown, while that of S. popidi is of a dead black with, 

 when quite dry, a slight greyish tint on the antennje-cases and other 

 raised surfaces. In shape, that of S. tiliae is more like that of S. lignstri 

 than that of S. popnli, which is by far the shortest and dumpiest of the 

 three. The pupa of S. oceUaius comes between the other two as regards 

 shape, but is much more rounded at the anal end, the scar left by the 

 anal claspers being, as a rule, hardly visible ; it has a smooth polished 

 surface, and is of a deep brown or black colour. The anal spike (which 

 I used to think had some connection with the horn), is largest and 

 thickest in S. tiliae ; in S. ocellatus it is smooth and relatively smaller ; 

 while in S. pnpmli it is much smaller, and generally sharp and slender. 



The Imagines. — »S. tiliae emerges in the afternoon, in which respect 

 it is very constant. Mr. J. H. D. Beales states {Eni. Rec, vol. xiv., p. 

 165) that his specimens, whether forced or not, almost invariably 

 emerged between twelve and two. The other two species usually 

 emerge about midnight, although I have had some out as early as 

 9.J30 }).m., and others as late as 8 a.m. Mr. Prout tells me that when 

 forced they usually emerge between 5 and 7 p.m. 



S. tiliae is out during May and June. Mr. Barrett says there is no 

 second brood, but Mr. Bellamy stated at one of the meetings of this 

 Society, that he had seen a specimen on Nov. 22nd. The other two are 

 also out during the same months. S. ocellatun is partially double- 

 brooded, and occurs again in August or September. S. popnli is said to 

 be regularly double-brooded, the second brood coming out at the end 

 of July and in August ; and the rearing of three broods in one year has 

 been recorded. The second brood of »S'. popidi is, however, I fancy, only 

 a partial one, the greater portion of the early pupa? going over the 

 winter before emerging. Out of about forty larvfe that went down at 

 the end of Jime lb'92, only five or six jdelded imagines the same year ; 

 one of these was crippled, and the others rather under-sized. I have 

 fre(|uently raised broods, no members of which emerged before the 

 winter. The emergence of the first brood would seem to be spread over 



