ACHERONTIA. 6/ 



SPHINGES. 



FiVF. very distinct families are includecl under this name, and as tliey have but ^ftw characters 

 in common, we shall discuss them separately. 



FAMILY I.— SPHINGID^. 



This family includes the true Hawk-moths, which are large or middle-sized insects, with large 

 thick bodies and strong wings. The fore-wings are long, with a long oblique hind margin, and 

 the hind-wings are slighter, much shorter, and narrow, and when extended do not reach beyond the 

 middle of the abdomen. The antennae are short, and each joint is furnished with an oblique row 

 of short bristles beneath in the male. The palpi, which are placed close to the antennae, are short 

 and densely scaled. The tongue is generally strong, spiral, and very long ; and rarely short and 

 soft. The front tibiae are furnished with a leaf-like process, and the hind tibiae have generally two 

 pairs of spurs. The fore -wings have eleven or twelve nervures, and have only one submedian 

 nervure, which is not angulated to\\'ards the base ; nervules 7 and 8 rise from one stalk. The 

 hind-wings are generally furnished with a frenulum, two submedian nervures, and seven other 

 nervures ; the costal and subcostal nervures are connected near the base by a short transverse 

 nervule. The under side is duller coloured and with duller marking.-^. The larvae are cylindrical, 

 naked, generally finely granulated, and with a horn or small elevation on the 12th segment. 

 The moths have a powerful rushing flight, and hover over flowers, sucking the honey on the wing. 

 Most of them fly at twilight and at night, and are widely distributed, nearly all those which occur 

 north of the Alps ranging over the greater part of Europe. 



GENUS I. — .\CHERONTIA (HUBN.). 



Body very thick, head and eyes large, antennae short and thick, terminating in a slender 

 bristle ; thorax with pale markings on the back, resembling a skull ; abdomen thick and cylindrical ; 

 and the hind margins of the wings not dentated. When the insect is at rest, the wings lie sloping 

 close to the body, and the hind-wings are folded. The larva has a flat egg-shaped head, and a 

 strongly granulated horn, bent into an S-shape. It forms its pupa in a cell underground. The 

 moths have the power of uttering a kind of squeak, something like that of a mouse — a peculiarity 

 only recorded of one other species of the family not belonging to this genus. There has been 

 much discussion about the origin of this sound, which some think is produced by the friction of 

 the short strong proboscis when rolled up, because it ceases immediately if this is unrolled and 

 stretched out with a pin. The European species is found over the whole of Europe, Africa, and 

 Western Asia, but is represented in Eastern Asia by other closely-allied species. The genus does 

 not appear to occur in America. A. Atropos is, however, generally rather scarce in Europe, or is 

 only common in favourable years. It flies late at night, and does not suck the honey of flowers, 

 but the exuding sap of trees. It is fond of honey, and sometimes enters beehives ; and it is also 

 attra ,ced by light. Few insects have a more powerful and sustained flight than this, which is 

 often met with at sea, many miles from the nearest land. ^ A. Atropos, Linn, {the DeatJis-head 

 Hazvk-moth), has dark brown fore-wings, varied with black zigzag lines, and with irregular whitish 

 and rusty brown markings ; in the middle is a round whitish dot. The hind-wings are yellow, 

 with two black bands towards the hind margins. The head and thorax are black, marked 



