230 SPHINGIDAE. By Dr. K. Jordan. 



which are only obsolete in a few species. These spines are found at the apical edge of the segments, and in 

 Pholus and Pachylia, for instance, where they are very strongly developed, they form a single row; in most 

 species they are placed in several rows, and in many specialised forms the under scales of the luiderside of the 

 abdomen are also nearly all modified into slight spines; they are often absent on the underside, where they 

 are always less strongly developed than above. Similar structures are rarely found elsewhere among Lepido- 

 ptera. These spines may have originated in conjunction ^vith the pupation in the ground. 



As regards the legs it is worthy of note that there are frequently spines on the tibiae, these being 

 especially often found in those species which we must consider as specialised on account of the development 

 of the mouth-parts, wings, tarsi and clothing of body. The fore tibia is often produced into a thorn. The hind 

 tibia bears one or two pairs of spurs. At the base of the middle and hind tarsi the spines of one row are 

 often prolonged into long bristles, forming a sort of comb ("'basal comb"). In the claw-segment the pulvillus 

 is well developed or reduced or entirely absent, and the same holds good for the paronychium. The fore coxa 

 in the ^ often has a scent-organ, which sometimes attains a considerable size. 



An elongate forcAvuig with entire margin is t_\-pical for the family, but many specialised forms deviate 

 from this tj-pe and have dentate, lohate or broadened wing.s, which latter, when the insect is at rest, are not 

 held in roof-shape, but spread out and so placed one above the other that the hindwmg protrudes from below 

 the costal margin of the forewing. Sometimes the costal margin is also upturned. 



The larva occurs in two chief t^-jjes, the cylindrical tj'pe and the tyjie which is strongly narrowed 

 anteriorly from segment 4. The cylindrical larva is often denseh- granulose, and sometimes these granules 

 are enlarged to form pointed humps; there are even larvae which on each segment have a belt of branched 

 long spines {Lophostethm). The head which is pointed above, and which among the European Sphingids is char- 

 acteristic of Smerinthus and allied genera, is also found among the species allied to Proto puree; there are also 

 many genera allied to Smerinthus which have round-headed larvae. Often the larva is round-headed in one 

 stage and has a pointed head in the other stages. In the cylindrical larvae oblique lateral bands are the pre- 

 dominant markings, wliile in the pig-head larvae ocelli prevail. The horn on segment 11 is longer m the early 

 instars than later, and as a rule is also present at first in those species in which it is replaced in the full- 

 grown larva by a small round disc. In many young larvae the horn is as long as the body and directed forward 

 (e. g. in Psenelc'iphinx) and forms a tail moveable at will. 



Pupation takes place in or on the ground. But in South America there are species which spin uj) on the 

 trunks of the food-tree ; it may be recalled incidentall_y that the larvae of Mimas tiliae sometimes also pupate in the 

 crevices of the tree on which they have been feeding. Three incisions in the abdomen of the pupa are not fused, 

 so that segments 5 and 6 are moveable. The tongue-case varies greatly in development. Sometimes it does 

 not reach the wing-cases, in most species it extends to their apex, and sometimes beyond it ; in many species 

 there would not be enough room for the development of a long tongue in .such a sheath running straight from the 

 head to the abdomen. In these cases the base of the sheath is widened, either forming a keel-like enlargement 

 of the head (Nephele, Hippotion, Theretra, etc.), or projectmg as a free nose (Sphinx and allied genera, also Rhyn- 

 cholabn among the Chaeroeampinae). The nose is rarely rolled up in a close spiral in several coils (Coeytius an- 

 taeus), sometimes it is curved and its apex directed forward (Herse), or its apex is turned thoracad (several 

 Protoparce), or the nose lies along the breast (e. g. in Sjihinx). 



Tlie eggs of the Sphitigidae are round, somewhat flattened, more rarely slightly pear-shaped. They 

 are usually light green, and the structure of the shell is only visible when greatly magnified. As far as known 

 either tlie pupa or the moth hibernates, never the larva. In many species which in the temperate zone as a 

 rule have only one brood, a number of specimens emerge in the same year which represent an incomplete se- 

 cond brood. On the other hand, some pupae hibernate twice or even three times, which prevents breeding 

 in and the total destniction of the species in one locality by unfavourable weather. 



As to the distribution of the Sphingidae, about 320 species are known from the Western Hemisphere, 

 and 530 from the Eastern, about 120 being confined to the Northern Temperate Zone (the Nearctic and 

 Palearctic Regions), while another 70 species occur both in the temperate and tropical districts. 56 species 

 may be considered purely Palearctic, and rather more than 60 exclusively Nearctic. In the Tropics the species 

 are so distributed that the Neotropical, Ethiopian and Oriental Regions each contain about the same number 

 of species. However, so many species are not as j^et knowii from Africa as from Indo-Australia and Central 

 and South America, but in Africa, to judge from the large number of uniques, there are certainly many more 

 species yet to be discovered than in the other regions, so that the difference will be effaced. In any case, there 

 is not such a great difference between the tropical regions as between the latter and the temperate zones. 



There is only one cosmopolitan species, Celerio lineata; but even this is separated into three well-defin- 

 ed subspecies (one American, one Australian and one African-Asiatic-European). On the other hand, the 



