276 



LEPIDOPTERA. 



short, black lines, with yellow above and beneath. It is double 

 brooded in Texas. The larva feeds on the purslane and turnip, 

 and will, in confinement, eat the apple. D. chamcenerii Harris 

 has a white line on each side of the head and thorax. The 

 larva feeds on the willow-herb (Epilobium angustifolium). It 

 is bronze green, dull red beneath, with nine round cream- 

 colored spots, pupilled with black, and a dull red caudal horn. 

 The genus Thyreus has a lateral tuft on each side of the tip of 

 the flattened, oval abdomen, and the head is broad and obtuse, 

 while the fore-wings are excavated just below the tips. The 



body of the 

 larva tapers 

 gently from 

 the first ab- 

 dominal ring, 

 and the last 

 segment has a 

 lenticular tu- 

 bercle instead 

 of a true horn. 

 When at rest 

 it throws its 

 head from side 

 to side thus 

 producing a 

 crepitating 



noise. It transforms in a cell on the surface. T. Abbotii 

 Swainson (Fig. 203 and larva) is dull chocolate brown, with 

 dull sulphureous hind wings, with a dark brown terminal band 

 broken up into short lines on a roseate spot at the inner angle. 

 The larva is reddish brown, with numerous patches of light 

 green. The tubercle is black, encircled at base by a yellowish 

 line and a blackish cordate patch. It feeds on the wild and 

 cultivated grape-vines and on the Ampelopsis quinquefolia, or 

 woodbine. 



The Bee-moth or Clear-wing, Sesia, is smaller than the fore- 

 going genera, and the body is flattened, oval and gaily colored 

 with yellow, black and red, while the wings are transparent in 

 the middle. The larva tapers in front, has a dorsal stripe just 



Fis- 203. 



