established by Ochsenheimer in his " Die SchmetterHng von 

 Europa." It contains the following British species : D. Celerio, 

 Elpeiior, Porcellus, lineata, Galii, and Euphorbia, which 

 are all rare excepting the second. These insects, which have 

 been called Hawk-moths, fly about sun-set, darting fi'om flower 

 to flower, and hovering over the most iVagrant with their long 

 proboscis extended to extract the honey deposited in the nec- 

 taries. Deilephila Euphorbice is eminently beautiful both in 

 its larva and imago states ; and although it has been met with 

 by the earlier collectors, I am indebted to the assiduity and 

 liberality of my fi-iend Mr. Raddon for being able to give its 

 history, as well as figures of the larva, and the plant upon which 

 it feeds. 



During a long residence in Devonshire, that gentleman 

 vdsited occasionally the extensive sand-hills at Appledore and 

 Braunton Burrows near Barnstaple, where Euphorbia Paralias 

 grows in great abundance ; and from the size and beauty of 

 the caterpillar it would be imagined that it might readily be 

 found : but in the young state they are not easily discoverable ; 

 and when more advanced, they become so conspicuous that 

 their numbers are reduced by marine birds which feed upon 

 them : — sometimes they may be traced by their soil, at other 

 times they may be seen far from the spot where they fed, at 

 the extremity of a tall rush. They are full-grown about the 

 middle of September, when they descend into the sand and 

 change into chrj'salides, forming a loose case of earth around 

 them, from which they emerge the beginning of the following 

 June. Sometimes, however, they remain in the pupa state 

 two seasons, as many other Lepidoptera do ; — a wise provision 

 of Nature to prevent any accident from destroying the whole 

 brood. The sand-hills where the larva is foimd are of great 

 extent and magnitude, and must have been collected by the 

 winds and storms to which they are constantly exposed : du- 

 ring the winter the whole soil is frequently removed, so as com- 

 pletely to alter the surface of the country ; a great number of 

 the pupa must consequently be destroyed or buried at a great 

 depth below the surface, where probably they lie hid until 

 they are brought to light and life by the influence of the 

 elements *. 



Dr. Schwffigrichen of Leipsic informs me that in Germany 

 D. Euphorbice feeds upon Euphm-bia esula and E. Q/parissias, 

 plants of the same division as E. Paralias (Sea Spurge) figured 

 in the plate. 



* I think it probable that the larva found in marshy ground at Barnscray near 

 Crayford in Kent, and figured by Harris, as well as those recorded by Dc Goer 

 as feeding upon a common Gcilium, were the caterpillars of 1). Galii, especially 

 as that species hat been frequently confounded with JJ. Etijilwrbice. 



