April 3, 1874. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTIOHLTUEE AND COTTAGE CiAHDENfill. 



2! 1 1 



gardeus, have not lost their fieuBeof tlio beautiful ; nnil amoug 

 our entomologists, some at least are still capable of being 

 roused to enthusiasm by the wonders of form and colour. 



I have been tempted into these somewhat discursive remarks 

 because before me are some pujia of insects, dark-looUing, and 

 almost, it might be said, unsightly objects. I could not but 

 think how diflicult it is to conceive how an insect which when 

 it has emerged seems thrice as large as the shell that once 

 contained it, could have been packed in eo little compass, and 

 equally strange is it to notice the varied colours displayed by 

 a moth or butterfly only a few hours after it has appeared 

 full-winged, whereas the pupa if cut into shortly before would 

 have shown a structure of a uniform grey or brown. Similar 



also on Galium verum, also common there. Of late years 

 search for it in that district has proved useless, and the nearest 

 localities to London where the Elephant Hawk turns up appear 

 now to be about Plumstead and Erith in Kent. There are 

 some counties where the insect is plentiful enough, especially 

 towards the south coast, where at twilight the moth, with a 

 penchant for sweets of the best quality, deserts the flowers of 

 the hedgebanks, and whirrs about the garden, or enters the 

 conservatory at evening's dusk; sweeping off, if annoyed, with 

 a hawk-like rapidity, though the moth is not at all elephantine 

 in proportions, that name applying properly to the caterpillar. 

 This insect, which does not vary much as do some, has the 

 fore wings of olive green and pink, v.'ith white hairs along the 



Fig. 1. — Cli,' iwij^.iLiiia hi]ici]>ji.- , 



instances the gardener is well acquainted with, seen in the 

 buds of leaves and flowers, only there the transmutation is 

 more gradual. I have known a gardener so much astonished 

 and pleased at the curious sight of the expansion of a moth's 

 wings as to kill no insects for — one day at least ! But in truth 

 it is satisfactory to know that a certain number of our horti- 

 culturists, consisting of men of all grades, are beginning to take 

 ii hearty interest in the doings and appearances of insects, 

 and not merely because they are regarded as enemies or 

 doubtful friends. 



A rather favourite moth with young collectors is the large spe- 

 cies placed by LiuuM.ua among his Sphinxes, and called the Ele- 

 phant Hawk, scientifically Ch;erocampa Elpenor {liii- 1,2, and 3) 

 — not an insect,'! believe, as common in England as formerly, 



FJs- ;i. — Pupa of Cbipi-ocampa Elpenor. ' 



inner edge, the hind wings being of a deeper shade of pink, 

 black at the base. The body is rose colour with bands of 

 green, and the tongue long and spiral, while the eyes, should 

 the moth be seen when engaged upon the flowers, sparkle like 

 lamps in miniature; and through the insects being thus at- 

 tracted to gardens it comes to pass that the eggs are some- 

 times deposited on the Vine and the Fuchsia, plants very 

 different indeed, yet both to the taste of the caterpiUar of 

 Elpenor, so it is asserted; and with regard to the Vine, \eri- 

 fied by specimens I have seen taken feeding upon it. Yet it is 

 not by any means sufficiently numerous to be deemed an in- 

 sect enemy — in fact, the natural food, in Britain at least, is 

 evidently the wild plants named. This rather curious cater- 

 pillar has been thought to taper from the middle of its body 



^J.^■•.^■'..^J\^ 7-11^*-' .■Wt^v.^jr^^-i;- " - " : 





Fig. 3. — Larva of Chjtrucampa Elpenor.' 



perhaps because it has some lildng for marshy localities — at least 

 in the larval state, and our better drainage has diminished the 

 number of spots where grew the plants, such as the various spe- 

 cies of Epilobium CWillow-herbs), on which the " Elephants " 

 formerly fattened. Or does this fat and rather showy caterpillar 

 fall frequently a prey to the insatiable sparrows '.' Years ago 

 worthy old insect-lovers, such as Haworth and Ingpen, used 

 to trudge over to Barnes on a summer evening from the west 

 of London to capture upon that Surrey common the hovering 

 Elpenor, which was attracted by the fascination of the flowers 

 of the Eagged Kobin. Probably at that time the larva fed 

 freely on the plants still growing on the banks of the Thames 

 not far oft', such as the species of Epilobium aforesaid, and 



Fif. 4.— Sesio Apiformis.' 



to the head, so as fo resemble the trunk of the elephant. To 

 some individuals the creature has a hog-hke aspect, hence the 

 Latin name. And in France this and the caterpillars of kindred 

 species are called Cvchoinni:, from the way in which they draw 

 back the two segments of the body nest the head. The con- 

 spicuous spots on Ihe side of the fourth and fifth segments 

 are so beautiful, being black edged with \iolet, that they might 

 well give it special distinction among its brethren. Gieen or 

 brown is the ground colour of the body, the tail being adorned 

 with a short horn pointing backwards. This caterpillar, oc- 

 curring in August mostly, feeds up much more rapidly iu 



> From Cat sell's eaiticn of Figiiict's " Ineect World.'' 



