i68 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



One other small group of these interesting Insects must be mentioned, con- 

 sisting of three species, of which one is that notorious impostor, the humming-bird 

 hawk-moth, and the others the less familiar bee hawk-moths. But for the 

 characteristic horn at the hinder end of the back there is little in the caterpillar to 

 indicate its relationship to the larger hawk-moths. That of the humming-bird 

 hawk-moth is less than two inches long, of a greenish or brownish colour, diversified 

 by lines and dots of paler tints. It feeds upon yellow bedstraw at night, and spends 

 the day among the somewhat matted stems near the ground, where its ornamentation 

 is sufficiently protective. The moth ^ flies during the sunny hours of the day chiefly, 

 and by its habit of remaining suspended on its rapidly vibrated wings whilst its 

 proboscis is extended into a flower, has caused manv persons to rub their eyes and 

 wonder if they are dreaming of being far away in sunnier climes, where real humming- 

 birds hover before the flowers. In manv cases 

 it is very difficult to persuade such persons that 

 what they are looking at is onlv a moth. The 

 proboscis thrust straight out in front looks very 

 like a bird's beak, and a tuft of long scales on each 

 side of the other extremitv gives a resemblance to 

 the liumming-bird's outspread tail-feathers. In 

 the coloured plate (page i6o) the artist has repre- 

 sented this moth as it appears when just approach- 

 ing the flowers it intends to rifle of their nectar. 

 When busy sucking at the sweets the body is 

 suspended almost motionless, but the wings are 

 vibrated so rapidly that little can be seen of them 

 beyond a sort of halo such as would be produced by 

 a wheel revolving at enormous speed. In this 

 picture they are sucking at the wild field-bindweed, 

 as sketched by our artist, but in gardens they are 

 frequently attracted to white jessamine. 



The bee haw^k-moths, distinguished by the 

 breadth ^ or narrowness "^ of the opaque border 

 to their transparent wings, are equally deceptions 

 in another way. Their stout bodies are thickly clothed with long, yellow scales, 

 save for a band across the hind-body, which is covered with scales of black or brown. 

 In conjunction with the transparent wings this produces a striking resemblance to 

 a humble-bee. But when the moth emerges from the chrysalis its wings are clothed 

 with scales all over, and it is only when it takes its first flight that these are all cast 

 off from the centre of the wings. Like the humming-bird liawk-moth, both these 

 bee-hawks fly in the sunshine, and it is obviously to their advantage that they should 

 be mistaken for stinging Insects. 



A Fearless Fly that Defies the Driver-Ant. 



The driver-ants of Africa are a terror to all other creatu)-es. They march 

 in such enormous numbers that everything which desires not to be eaten has to 



1 Macroglossa stcllatanim. - Hemaiis fuciformis. ^ 11. titviis. 



Photo by] [A. E. Tont^e, F.E.S. 



The Elephant Hawk-Moth. 



One of the smaller of the hawk-moths, and of very 

 neat and pleasing appearance. The fore wings 

 are greenish, with two stripes of rose running from 

 the tip, of which one forms the outer margin. The 

 hind-wings — entirely hidden when the Insect 

 is at rest, as in our photograph — have a black base 

 and a broad rose-coloured marginal band. Its 

 remarkable caterpillar is shown on page 167. 



