( 166 ) 



.SiiiiKAMiLY Ambulicinae. — Tyj)ns : Protttmhtib/x striyilis. 



Domhi/liae Hiibner, I'n-z. /<,'/■. S</,,n. \k 131 (18-J2) (partim). 



neilephilae id., I.r. p. 136 (1H22) (partim). 



Smennllii id., I.r. p. 141 (1H22) (partim). 



Chaerocniiipiiii Grote & Robinson, Proc. Ent. S<ii-. Philml. v. p. 150 (18().''() (partim ; >iom. i>i(le.i<-r.). 



l^meriiithiiii id., !.<: p. 100 (1K().5) {num. /mlesrr.). 



" Smi'rinthides" Boisduval, S/ier. (leu. Lep. IIi'l. 1. p. H ( 1X7.')) (excl. Xi/rery.r, E!iry2]tery.c, Ceratoinia). 



" Leucophlebides " id., I.e. p. ,'i4 (1875). 



" Di'ildphilides " id., I.r. p. 158 (1875) (partim ; Amh/ili/x only). 



Chuerocampinae Butler, Trans. Zool. Sor. Loud. ix. p. 614. 554 (1877) (Cypa only). 



A niMkinae id.. I.e. p. 514. 579 (1877) (^4. ? hypo.it/rta excl. ; type : utrifjiUs). 



Smeniifhiiiae id., I.r. p. 515. 582 (1877) {Sphiiigonaepiopnis excl.). 



There is apparently no single character which sejiarates all the members of the 

 present subfamily from all the Acherontiinae. An Ambnlicine species is distinguished, 

 however, from the Sphingicae by the end-segment of the antenna being short, 

 densely sealed above ; the few genera with prolonged end-segment {Profnmbuhj.v, 

 Compsoqme, Oxj/amhdi/x, Cypa) are recognisable by the apex of the forewing 

 being sinuate, or the long tarsi being without a midtarsal comb, or by the distal 

 margin of tlie forewing l)eing more or less angulate below the middle, or sinuate 

 at apex. 



The tribe Sphriigulicae, in which the end-segment of the antenna is as short as 

 in most Ambulicinae, agrees so closely in structure with this snbfamily that only 

 a combination of characters separates one group from the other ; the tuft of long 

 iiair-scales covering the lower jtart of the eye iu many Ambulicinae is absent 

 from or vestigial iu Sphingulicae ; all the species with irregular distal margin of 

 the forewing, or with the margin concave below the apex, or the apex sinuate, or 

 the margin straight or slightly concave and the tibiae at the same time spinulose, 

 or the forewing with yellow and red shades, as well as the forms without frenulum, 

 or without the pr(i.\imal pair of hindtibial spurs, or without pulvillus, belong to the 

 Ambulicimw. 



As in the case of the AcJierontiiiiae, tlie specialisation within the subfamily 

 Ambulicinae, which has led to the appearance of a great number of groups of 

 species treated as genera, relates to a variety of organs, many of wliich become 

 more and more reduced till they vanish. The gradual disappearance of organs, 

 such as the frenulum, the proximal pair of hindtibial spurs, the pulvillus and 

 paronychium, the friction-patch, etc., can equally well be traced in this subfamily as 

 among the Acherontiinae. It is here, like there, largely a develojiment by reduction 

 whicli has given rise to the genera, these being in many cases characterised by tlie 

 absence or reduction of some particular organ. 



Tlie tongue of the Ambulicinae does never reach beyond the end of the 

 abdomen ; it is generally short and weak, and there are several species in which 

 it is reduced to two sh(5rt lobes (PI. LXII. f. 1). The mesial fringe of the tongue, 

 by which the two halves are kept together above, form iu the sjiecies with a strong 

 tongue {Protambuli/x and allies) a kind of thin membrane, the hairs being soldered 

 together, while the fringe of the weak tougue is generally long and loose, the hairs 

 being more or less separate, or is alisent (PI. LXI. f. 10. 1 1). The base of the tongue 

 is uot rarely covered with long weak scales {Leucophlebia for instance) ; in Cypa 



