terrible deatli's-liead moth {Acherontia Atropos), wliicli 

 iVig-litens most men and women who see it for the first 

 time ; no wonder, therefore, that bees are alarmed when 

 they find themselves directly subject to its attacks. This 

 moth appears towards the close of summer, and if it makes 

 its way into the hive commits g'reat ravages. 



The reader may imag-ine that as the bees are able to kill 

 and dispose of such apparently impracticable enemies as 

 the slug' and snail, they would find little difficulty in de- 

 stroying- the deatlfs-head moth, when it has succeeded 

 in gaining' an entrance into their hives. But such is not the 

 case, for after it has baffled the vigilance of the guards 

 at the entrance, the bees appear paralyzed as if by some 

 spell. Some writers imagine that a kind of cry, which this 

 magnificent insect has the power of emitting-, by resem- 

 bling- the potent voice of the queen-bee, when she wishes to 

 call her unruly subjects to order, has the same effect upon 

 the worker-bees, and for the time causes them to sit 

 motionless, while the intruder is permitted to commit its 

 ravages with impunity. It may be as well to remark, that 

 although it is much more plentiful some years than others, 

 the death's-head moth is at all times a much commoner 

 insect than is g-enerally supposed. It is very rarely seen 

 by day, but prefers flying- in the dusk of the evening-, when 

 it is often taken for a bat. The larva or caterpillar of it 

 is also a night-feeding- creature, and during- the day con- 

 ceals itself with g-reat care, but at night it leaves its place 

 of concealment, and commits its ravages unseen. It is 

 almost sure to exist in any potato-ground; but if it is 

 intended to be captured it will be requisite to take a dark- 

 lantern and enter the potato-field by night, when, by sud- 

 denly throwing the light on a patch of herbage, the potatoes 

 may be thoroughly examined without disturbing any other 

 portion. The caterpillar is also not unfrequently found on 

 the common jessamine. If the observer wishes to rear the 

 caterpillar until its transformation into a moth, he must 

 be careful to give it the particular food on which it was 

 living, as the caterpillar hatched on the jessamine will not 

 eat the potato, nor will the potato-caterpillar touch the 

 jessamine. It will require an incredible amount of food 

 during* its larval state j and when it has changed into a 



