4:26 INSECTS AT HOME. 



along the sides some black tufts of hair, which it spreads 

 durino: fliobt. 



This beautiful Moth appears about May; but, as it is a 

 creature of the sun, it is seldom seen, except by experienced 

 entomologists, who know where and when to look for it. 

 Sheltered glades and open spaces in woods are its favourite 

 haunts, but it never appears unless the air be both warm and 

 still. Should the day be cold and dull, and especially if the 

 wind should be in the north-east, the practised insect-hunter 

 knows that he need not trouble himself about this beautiful 

 and capricious insect. 



The larva of this species feeds on several plants, among 

 which are mentioned the bedstraws, the common lychnis, and 

 the wood scabious. It is chiefly in consequence of this mode of 

 feeding that these insects have been separated from the next 

 group, which bear a great external resemblance to them, but 

 whose larvae burrow into wood. 



The next family is that of the Sesiadse, the members of which 

 have a wonderful resemblance to certain bees, wasps, and flies, 

 their wings being translucent, and their bodies being elongated 

 and narrow, quite unlike those of the preceding naked-winged 

 insects. The antennae have no feathering, and are very often 

 tipped with a small tuft of hairs. The tongue is not nearly so 

 long as in tlie preceding genus, and in most cases the end of 

 the abdomen is tipped with a spreading brush of hair. 



Our first example of these remarkable Moths is the Poplar 

 Hornet Clear-wing {Sesia apiformis), which is represented on 

 Woodcut XLIV. Fig. 2. This remarkable insect aifords one of 

 the best examples of imitation that I know. Only a few hom"s 

 before writing this account, I was looking over some rather 

 neglected drawers of insects, on the glass of which a slight 

 layer of dust had been allowed to accumulate. I knew that a 

 Hornet Clear-wing was among them, and yet the insect twice 

 escaped observation, so strongly does it resemble the hornet 

 beetle in colour and shape. 



The upper wings of this insect are transparent, with a slight 

 yellowish tinge, and a narrow, dark border. The head is 

 yellow, and there is a yellow patch on either side of the brown 



