PROCEEDINGS, 1921 25 



THE SPHINGIDAE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA 



By E. H. Blackmore, F.E.S. 



The family Sphingidae is very poorly represented in the north- 

 western portion of this continent. In boreal North America there are 

 forty different genera, comprising some 134 species and varietal forms, 

 of which only seven genera and fourteen species are known to occur 

 in British Columbia. Alberta is not much better represented, as only 

 sixteen forms are recorded from that province — just two more than we 

 have. It is interesting to note, however, that eight of the species occur 

 in both provinces. Showing how poorly we are represented here in 

 this family, I may mention that in the State of New Jersey alone fifty 

 different species and forms are recorded. Before taking up the species 

 in detail, perhaps it would be as well to say a few words about the 

 different stages. 



Larvae. The larvae of this family are quite characteristic. As a 

 rule they are large and rather remarkable in appearance, the body is 

 cylindrical and naked and most of them have a caudal horn situated 

 near the end of the body on the eighth abdominal segment. Sometimes 

 in place of this horn is a polished eye-like spot. The majority of the 

 species are of some shade of green in colour and usually have oblique 

 stripes of a contrasting colour on the sides. The anterior segments 

 are retractile and when at rest these segments are drawn back and the 

 front portion of the body raised in the air. When in this posture they 

 are supposed to represent the Egyptian Sphinx and it is to this resem- 

 blance that the typical genus was named Sphinx. The larvae feed upon 

 leaves of trees and shrubs and are solitary, that is, they do not feed in 

 colonies, but each one feeds by itself upon its appropriate food plant. 



Pupae. Most of the species pass the pupal state deep in the ground 

 in simple cells made in the earth ; a few species, however, transform on 

 the surface of the ground in imperfect cocoons composed of leaves 

 fastened together with silk. 



Adults. The majority of the species of this family have very stout, 

 long, conical bodies, with long narrow pointed wings, which, together 

 with their rapid and powerful flight have given them their common 

 name of Hawk-moths. Sometimes they are called Humming-bird 

 Moths on account of their habit of remaining poised over a flower while 

 extracting the nectar, holding themselves in this position by a rapid 

 motion of the wings. This attitude and the whirr of the vibrating wings 

 gives them a strong resemblance to a humming-bird. The tongue as a 

 rule is very long, sometimes longer than the body, and in some species 

 it is nearly six inches in length when uncoiled. The antennae are 

 somewhat peculiar, being fusiform (that is spindle shaped) and pris- 

 matic ; they are generally stouter in the male and usually hooked at 

 the tip. They are, as a rule, crepuscular in their habits, flying at twi- 

 light and hovering over flowers from which they extract the nectar with 



