Sphingidae 



"telescoping" into one another, and the anterior portion of the 

 body being often raised, as illustrated in Plate 1, Figure i. It is 

 alleged that the habit of assuming this posture, suggesting a 

 resemblance to the Egyptian Sphinx, prompted the application 

 ofthenameto these creatures. The larvae are not gregarious, 

 but feed solitarily upon their appropriate food-plants. 



Some forms pupate in a cell deep under the soil, others spin 

 a loose cocoon among damp fallen leaves and pupate at the sur- 

 face. The pupce are as remarkable as the larvae. A few genera 

 have the proboscis enclosed in a sheath which is separate along 

 the greater portion of its course from the adjacent wall of the 

 body. This is illustrated in Figure 22. 



Fig. 22. — Pupa of Protoparce qui)'.que)iiacr.Iaiiis. (After Riley.) 



The Hawkmoths of the United States and Canada fall into 

 five subfamilies, the Acherontiina;, the Ambulicince, the Sesiince, 

 the PhilampeliihT, and the Ch(rrocampincc. 



SUBFAMILY ACHERONTIIN/E 



Genus HERSE Oken 



(i) Herse cingulata Fabricius, Plate VI, Fig. 3, 6 , (The 

 Pinkspotted Hawkmoth.) 



Syn. convolvidi, var. Merian; affiuis Goeze; drurcsi Donovan; pungens 

 Eschsholtz; decolora Henry Edwards. 



This large and elegant hawkmoth, the larva of which feeds 

 upon sweet-potato vines and various other Convolvtilacece, has 

 been confounded by writers with H. ronvo/vuli Linnaeus, which 

 it resembles, but from which it is abundantly distinct. The 

 latter species is confined to the old world. H. cingulata, the 

 only species of the genus occurring in the western hemisphere, 

 ranges from Canada to northern Patagonia, and is also found in 

 the Galapagos and Sandwich Islands. I have a specimen taken 

 at sea in the Atlantic, five hundred miles from the nearest land. 



43 



