276 



JodeNal of hortiodlture and cottage qabdbnee. 



[ April 12, 187?. 



well invested. If, however, your own seed be eatisfactory, do 

 not change from any inoorreot idea that plants as a matter of 

 course run out from having been raised on the same land for 

 a number of years. 



Indiflerent cultivation causes deterioration of products to a 

 greater d( sree than all other causes combined. If nnsnited to 

 the soil pliiuta will deteriorate, and new seed should be obtained 

 from localities where the oharaoterietica are retained. If you 

 have these already secured hold fast to them in preference to 

 liskitig seed from some other place. Experiment with all and 

 every variety you please. This ia one ttst of the intelliKent 

 and successful farmer; but do not throw away that which ia 

 good until you get something better. — {Prairie Farmer.) 



CHAPTERS ON INSECTS FOB GAKDENEBS. 



No. 17. 



The idea must sometimes have occurred to the reflective 

 gardener that the largest insects are not always the most 

 troublesome, that, indeed, if we were to make a statement on 

 the subject it would rather take the opposite form, since many 

 of our prolific and pertinacious foes are dimiuntive, though 

 often very agile. To some who are ignorant of natural history 

 tho first remark on their beinp shown either a moth or a 

 caterpillar belonging to the Hawk Moth division, that we have 

 next to consider, is one implying the estimate they form of the 

 destructive powers of such creatures. Looking at the insects 

 individually (at least in the larva state) such observers may 

 often be right, but considered collectively these insects rarely 

 appear in gardens in sufficient numbers to cause damage. Mr. 

 Wood certainly does seem to think the " Eyed " and " Poplar " 

 Hawks (Smerinthua Ocellatus and Populi) may be destructive 

 in gatdens — I suppose he means by their feeding on fruit 

 trees, which is, however, an infrequent circumstance, though 

 I once saw the larvie of S. Populi in sufficient force to spoil 

 the appearance of a row of Poplar saplings. The pacific cha- 

 racter of the huge and formidable-looking larva; of this family 

 is in marked contrast with the irritable displays we notice in 

 various species of the smaller Lepidoptera. 



Some of the older naturalists spoke of these Hawk Moths as 

 distingnifihed from thi^ir brethren in this order by their time 

 of flight, and so they called them the " Twilight Flyera ;" but 

 really, although certain species have a taste for the " witching 

 hour of eve " when they hover around our flower beds like 

 diminutive ghosts, their eyes twinkling with a light that is 

 perhaps of a phosphorescent nature, there are also speciea 

 which prefer to fly in the clear sunshine, and others that are 

 so sluggish in habit that alter being about for a short period 

 during the day, twilight finds them with a propensity to slum- 

 ber. Curious, again, was tho fancy of the Swedish naturalist 

 LinnfEus, who saw in the attitude of tho larvfe of some speciea 

 a resemblance to the Egyptian Spbynx, and hence applied a 

 name to them which is still used in its Latin form ; alao h"; 

 regarded them as intermediate between the butterflies and 

 moths. The phrase "Hawk Moth" happily expresses the 

 Bwooping flight ao notable in some species, yet others there 

 are which glide along in quite an unhawk-like fashion. At 

 the top of our list in size comes the species which may well be 

 termed the monarch of British motha, and which rejoices in 

 the solemn name of Aoherontia Atropos. No one who has 

 once seen a Death's-head Moth could fail to recognise it 

 thereafter; but it seems scarcely credible in this age of pro- 

 gress that such an insect should be viewed with apprehen- 

 sion even by a rustic; yet the fact is well authentionted, and 

 it is doubtless partly due to the marks that are exhibited on 

 the thorax and partly to the peculiar squeak the moth can 

 make when annoyed or alarmed. In some districts the cater- 

 pillar is called a "lokue," a mianomer rather ludicrous when 

 its habits are considered as well as ita form ; for though at 

 the time it is near maturity one of these can " put away" a 

 good many leaves, yet in Potato fields the insects are never 

 abundant enough to do damage. If feeding on the Privet or 

 the .Jasmine, as it occasionally will, the caterpillar leaves more 

 signs of its presence, though like its relative next to be referred 

 to, it is in the habit of concealing itself during the day. 



The Convolvulus Hawk Moth (Sphynx Convolvuli), not quite 

 60 large as the preceding, is still scarcer in most years, though 

 now and then there is a season when specimens occur all over 

 these islands, even in the vicinity of London. The moth 

 seeks the attractions ofiered by the exotics in our gardens, 

 having a remarkably long proboscis, therein differing from 

 A, AtropoB, which, having a short thick trunk, is driven to the 



expedient of robbing bees, and (perhaps) sipping the juice e{ 

 over-ripe fruit. As the caterpillar of S. Convolvuli is invariably 

 found on the wild species of Convolvnlua it is no enemy to 

 horticulture, but ever esteemed a prize by the entomologist 

 who may pounce upon it. No better illustration of the Hawk 

 Moth family can be given than that furnished by the hand- 

 aome moth and caterpillar of the species receiving its name 

 from the Privet, S. Liguatri. The body of the moth, with ita 

 pinl£ and black bands, is bulky, but the powerful grey-brown 

 fore wings, steadied by the lighter-coloured hind wings, can 

 carry the insect with rapidity through the air. Seldom is the 

 young caterpillar observed, owing to ita keeping low down 

 amongst the twigs ; gaining couraga aa it increases in size it 

 suns itself full in view, the purple and white stripes being 

 most recognisable at that stage on the pale green ground colour. 

 These oblique stripes, seven in number, are a fiugular cha- 

 racteristic of the large Hawk Moth caterpillars; sometimes 

 they are only faintly defined, the darkest being generally the 

 stripe that extends along the anal horn, which is another 

 adornment peculiar to the family, and which has, so far as I 

 can see, no purpose, offeniive, defensive, or nutritive. The 

 three Smerinthi have strong resemblances to each other, but 

 the Eyed Hawk (S. Ocellatus) has eye-like markings on the 

 lower wings, thus occupying a position unique amongst British 

 motha. In the caterpillar state, however, it is so similar to 

 that of S. Populi that they may be mistaken for each other, 

 though S. Populi is more yellow in hue, while S. Ocellatus 

 exhibits a horn that is of a bluish tint. Both feed on Poplar, 

 Willow, and now and then on the Apple or Pear ; it has been 

 asserted that the caterpillar of S. Populi has been observed 

 eating the uninviting leaves of the Laurel and Laurustinua. 

 The third speciea, S. Tiliic, frequentathe Lime sometimes, but 

 more commonly it occurs upon the Elm, and this, in the 

 caterpillar state, is quite distinguished by a curious plate (or, 

 as it has been called, an " escutcheon ") which it bears on the 

 back, besides the anal horn. This is the least abundant of the 

 three Smerinthi ; and as the female moths of all deposit a 

 goodly number of eggs, their stationary condition may be 

 attributed to tho dying-off of many young caterpillars and the 

 destruction committed amongst them by birds. 



Passing by a few species of some local rarity we proceed to 

 notice the Elephant Hawk Moth (Chterocampa Elpenor), a 

 species in which we have a caterpillar with eyelike spots and 

 a body tapering like an elephant's trunk; hence the Eoglish 

 name that has been conferred upon it. Occasionally it is 

 green, but more generally olive-brown. In taste it is rather 

 eccentric, for it feeds on plants aa dissimilar as the Willow 

 Herbs, the Bedstraws, in gardens occasionally on the Vine (as 

 reared by myself), also, it ia said, on the Fachsia ; but it is 

 not found to be productive of any serious injury, and the 

 beautiful moth may be esteemed as not much less charming 

 than some of the flowers about which it hovers, the olive-green 

 of the wings and body being relieved by pink, brown, and black 

 markiugs. Next of kin to the Elephant ia the small Elephant 

 (C. Porcellus), this pig-headed (:') species being more uncommon 

 in most English counties, its habits leading it to prefer open 

 places, as on chalk downs, rather than the vicinity of gardens. 

 The Bedstraws afford food to the caterpillar, which is brown 

 or green, black-spotted, and of all the Hawk Moth tribe the 

 sole speciea without the anal horn. 



Newspaper paragraphists have reason to view with thank- 

 fulness the Humming Bird Hawk Moth, for it has supplied 

 various journals with the startling heading of " A Humming 

 Bird in England I" The mistake on the part of some observers 

 is exouaablfi when we are told that those who have seen true 

 humming birds have stated that, had they not been assured 

 to the contrary, they could have supposed this moth as seen 

 by them on the wing was the admired and lively creature 

 which has enraptured poets and artista. Our moth, however, 

 resembles the duller-coloured humming birds, for such there 

 are besides those gorgeously plumed; and although, much 

 in the manner of the bird, the moth flies during the daytime, 

 during the evening it hums above the flower beds, having ap- 

 parently a fancy for flying into rooms through open windows, 

 after it has sipped the honey from the flowers against the walls. 

 Is it possible that the humming sound this moth makes deters 

 birds from seizing it ? One peculiarity of the Humming Bird 

 Hawk Moth is its capriciousness as to the times when it will 

 exhibit itself on the wing, though its aeason of emergence from 

 the pupa condition is in the autumn. Individuals have been 

 seen in almost every month of the year, implying that some 

 hybernate in average years. But the caterpillar is only to be 



