LEPIDOPTERA. 247 



mounting upon some neighboring plant, waits till the approach 

 of evenino- invites it to expand its untried wings and fly in 

 search of food. This large insect has generally been con- 

 founded with the Carolina Sphinx {Sphinx Carolina of Lin- 

 nirus), which it closely resembles. It measures across the 

 wings about five inches; is of a gray color, variegated with 

 blackish lines and bands; and on each side of the body there 

 are five round, orange-colored spots encircled with black. 

 Hence it is called by English Entomologists Sphinx qidnque- 

 macuhifiis, the five-spotted Sphinx. Its tongue can be unrolled 

 to the length of five or six inches, but, when not in use, is 

 coiled like a watch-spring, and is almost entirely concealed, 

 between two large and thick feelers, under the head. 



Among the numerous insects that infest our noble elms the 

 largest is a kind of Sphinx, which, from the four short horns 

 on the fore part of the back, I have named Ceratomia* quad- 

 ricornis, or four-horned Ceratomia. On some trees these 

 Sphinges exist in great numbers, and their ravages then be- 

 come very obvious; while a few, though capable of doing 

 considerable injury, may escape notice among the thick foliage 

 which constitutes their food, or will only be betrayed by the 

 copious and regularly formed pellets of excrement beneath the 

 trees. They are very abundant during the months of July and 

 August on the large elms which surround the northern and 

 eastern sides of the common in Boston ; and towards the end 

 of August, when they descend from the trees for the purpose 

 of going into the ground, they may often be seen crawling in 

 the mall in considerable numbers. These caterpillars, at this 

 period of their existence, are about three inches and a half in 

 length, are of a pale green color, with seven oblique white 

 lines on each side of the body, and a row of little notches, 

 like saw-teeth, on the back. The four short horns on their 

 shoulders are also notched, and like most other Sphinges they 

 have a long and stiff spine on the hinder extremity of the body. 

 They enter the earth to become chrysalids and pass the win- 



* Ceratomia, derived from the Greek, means having horns on the shoulders, a 

 peculiarity which I have not observed in any other Sphinx. 



