THE BROAD-BORDERED BEE HAWK-MOTH. 53 



unless such specimens are impregnated females, the chances 

 of these reproducing their kind the following year are not great. 

 We haA'e, therefore, to fall back upon immigration as the 

 probable source of the Humming-Bird Hawk-moth in Britain. 

 Except the more northern portion, this species is distributed 

 over the whole of the PaLxarctic region, including India, China, 

 Corea, and Japan. 



^ The Broad-bordered Bee Hawk-moth {Hcmaris 

 fiiciforniis). 



We have but two kinds of Bee Hawk-moths in our islands, 

 and the present species (Plate 21, Figs. 2, 3) is easily recognized 

 by the broad reddish brown borders of the wing and especially 

 those on the front pair, which also have a black bar at the end 

 of the cell. When freshly emerged the wings are not clear and 

 transparent, but covered with greenish-grey scales, which are 

 so loosely attached that they are lost after the moth's first flight. 



The ^'g'g is bright green, and is laid on the underside of 

 a leaf of honeysuckle. When very young the caterpillar is 

 yellowish white, but when full grown (Plate 20, Fig. 2) it is 

 whitish green on the back, green on the sides, and reddish 

 brown beneath. Along the middle of the back there is a 

 darker, much interrupted, green line and a yellow line on each 

 side of it ; the spiracles are reddish, the head is dark green, 

 and the horn reddish brown merging into violet at the base, 

 and brown at the tip. Sometimes there are blotches of reddish 

 brown on the sides. When quite mature and ready to assume 

 the chrysalis stage the caterpillar changes in colour to purplish 

 brown. At all times it is difficult to detect, as its colour and 

 markings agree so well with the stems, stalks, and leaves of the 

 food plant. If a leaf of honeysuckle having round holes on 

 each side of the midrib be noticed, examination of the under- 

 side of that leaf may re\ eal a young caterpillar of this species. 



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