60 SMERIXTHUS CERISYT. 



Mr, Grote mentions that Mr. Stph. Calvcrly of X. York, (of whom we have licanl nothing fur some 

 years,) once informed him that he had raised this species from the hirva ; but as there is no record of the par- 

 ticulars of so interesting an event, we may be pardoned for suggesting that perhaps Mr. C. may possibly have 

 been mistalcen in the species, which, of course, can yet be determined if his examples are still extant. 



SMERINTHUS MODESTA. Harris. 

 Cat. \. Am. Sphingidae, .Sill. Jul. Art & Sc, Vol. 30, p. 292, (18.39.) 



(PLATE VII, FIfJ. 11, -"■.) 



Male axd Female. ExpanJ 4 to 5 inches. 



Head and body pale grey. 



Upper surface ; primaries, basal third very j^ale grey, with faint transverse .shades; abroad olivaceous 

 median band, within which is a small white discal spot ; adjoining this is a pale transverse shade, and a narrow 

 undulate band; the space from these to the exterior margin is olivaceous. Secondaries dusky rose-color ; 

 costal and abdominal margius very pale grey; exterior margin olivaceous ; near the anal angle is a bluish grey 

 patch surmounted by a curved black streak. 



Under surface ; pale olivaceous grey, broadly margined exteriorly with a somewhat darker shade ; base of 

 primaries dusky rose-color, on which the pale discal spot is visible. 



The larvafeeds on the Lombardy Poplar (P. Dilatata). 



Habitat. Canada, Lake Superior Region, New England and Middle States. Very rare. 



One can scarcely understand why Dr. Harris should have designated this noble species, the prince of its 

 o-enus by so humble an appellation, unless he labored under the fallacious idea that greatness and modesty ai-e 

 inseparable, which may have been the case with his generation, but in our day it is precisely the reverse. We 

 may, however, have vet to flill back on Walker's more appropriate name of Princeps, for .should Dentatus, 

 Cram.,* aud Modcsta, Fabr.,t be eventually determined as distinct from each other, of which there is every 

 probability, then Harris' name will long have been preoccupied, and Wallccr's would have to be retained in its 

 place. 



SMERINTHUS HYBRIDUS. Wfstwooi,. 



Humphrey's British Moths, t. 1, (1843.) 



Menetries,' Wien. Ent. Monatschril't, Vol. II, p. 197, (1S.5S.) 



Staudinger, Cat. Lep. des Eiir. Fannengebiets, p. 37, (1871.) 



HIBRIDA EX S. OCELLATA ET f^. POPFLI. 



(PLATE VII, FIG. 15.) 



Same size as S. Populi. Head and body brown, ground color of prituaries pinkish, same as S. Ocellata ; 

 markings brown, and same style as in S. Populi. Secondaries brown, with a reddish basal patch ; an obscure 

 grey spot replaces the ocellus near the anal angle. 



Under surface is a complete compound of the colors and markings of both Ocellata and Populi, favoring, 

 however, the former the most. 



This monstrosity, an offence against nature and local collectors, is, nevertheless, as Menetries says, at all 

 events very remarkable,:); and, although not of our f;\una, I have figured it as a curiosity, as well as for its 

 affording an illustration of the close affinity of the Smerinthid species with each other, for there can scarce be 

 any species more unlike in appearance than the European .S. Ocellata and S. Poj)uli, of which this abnormity 

 is the product. 



» Cramer, Papillons exotiques, Vol. II, t. 125, p. 42, (1T79.) 

 t Fabricius, Entornologia Systematica, Tom. III. iJars. I, \>. 3.W, (ITO-I.) 



t'* Der in den Transactions der Londoner entoni. (iesell.-^cliaft aiijft'hildete Diiotard von S/z/i. OciUata un.l Populi. Is- alU-rdln^c 5(.iir merliwurdig." 

 Wlen. Ent. Mon., Vol. II, p. 197. 



