164 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



Photo bvi 



F.L.S. 



[E. St. 

 Thp; Poplar Hawk-Moth. 

 A characteristic resting attitude of this moth. The hind-wings 

 being brought up in front of the fore-wings, a conspicuous rust- 

 red patch is hidden, and the grey-brown colour of wings and 

 ■ body produces some resemblance to weathered dead leaves. 



hawk-moths is the fine but more sober 

 this we can only claim as a sort of half-n 



Plioloby] [/.;. step, F.L.S. 



Caterpillar OF the Poplar Hawk-Moth. 



One of the most familiarof the hawk-moth caterpillars, frequently 

 to be found on poplars and sallows. Its rough skin is bcautifvilly 

 coloured green with diagonal stripes of white or yellow on the 

 sides. Occasionally the green assumes a brownish tinge. 



• Sphinx convolvul 



which arc laid on each side seven oblique 

 stripes. These stripes are compound in 

 colour, the upper half of each being violet 

 or purple, the lower part yellow. The 

 tips of these stripes from the two sides 

 meet on the back, so that when viewed 

 from above the caterpillar may be said to 

 be marked with seven Vs. Now, in 

 all the hawk-moth caterpillars that bear 

 these stripes, the effect when thev are 

 feeding is that of overlapping leaves whose 

 edges or ribs reflect light. In some 

 species there are two colour forms of the 

 caterpillar, one having the usual green, 

 the other brown, for its ground colour. 

 In these cases the illusion produced is 

 that of a dying leaf that has curled up 

 from the sides and shows the strong veins 

 of the under side. 



The next largest of our species of 

 ly coloured convolvulus hawk-moth, ^ and 

 ative, for it is rarel\- that the caterpillar has 

 been found in this country. In certain 

 years the moth occurs in comparative 

 abundance in our eastern and southern 

 counties, and this fact, combined with the 

 great rarity of the caterpillar, has led to 

 the conclusion that at least most of our 

 specimens have flown over from the 

 Continent. The full-grown caterpillar is 

 four inches long, and feeds chiefly upon the 

 little field-bindweed that mostly trails 

 along the ground. The caterpillar varies 

 in colour from a bright green to dark 

 brown. It is always green in its younger 

 condition, but when full grown it is most 

 frequcntlv brown. The young ones, of 

 course, become associated with the leaves 

 in colour, but when more fully grown, and 

 larger than the leaves, assimilation to the 

 colour of the ground upon which the leaves 

 lie affords them better i)rotection. One of 

 the hnest of these cater])illars is that of the 

 privet hawk-moth,- which is also one of 

 the most abundant. It is four inches in 



2 s ligiistri. 



