THE SPHINGID#. 97 
immense antenne upon their very small heads; and the narrow 
wings, which are green or a very deep blue, with spots or bands 
of rich carmine, make them to be very much sought after. 
One species, Zygena filipendule, is very well known over large 
districts, and it is amusing to see these “six spot burnets” buz- 
zing about in considerable numbers around the dandelions, thistles, 
and other common plants, or flying heavily and slowly over the 
hills. The moth is of a steel-blue colour, and has patches of car- 
mine on its front wings; the hinder wings are red, with a black 
border. The caterpillar is rather bloated-looking, and is orna- 
mented with small bundles of delicate hairs ; it is of a pale yellow 
colour, and has rows of black spots upon it. Its head is very 
small, and the jaws are made after the model of those of the 
tender leaf eaters. It lives upon many kinds of leguminous plants. 
When about to undergo the first metamorphosis the caterpillar 
constructs a long cocoon, of a pale yellow colour, and fixes it on 
twigs ; it is thin, but as strong as parchment, the silk which forms 
it being mixed with much secretion like varnish. The young 
larvee escape from the egg at the end of summer, and remain dull 
and stupid during autumn and winter. After this hybernation 
they wake up in the spring, and seek the plants upon which they 
can subsist. The engraving of the metamorphosis of the “ six- 
spot burnet,” the Axthrocera filipendule, of Stainton, or the 
Zygena of the same name, shows the chrysalis in its cocoon, 
fixed on to a stem, and the moth with the large antenne. 
No family of the Lepidoptera is better known or more readily 
distinguished than that of the Sphingide, Sphinges or, Sphinxes, 
as they are commonly called. 
The large body, the thick antenne, terminating in a hooked 
bristle, and the long, narrow, and strong wings, give the sphinges 
a very marked appearance. These moths are usually large, and 
their active flight soon makes them noticed. They glide along 
during the hot summer evenings with immense rapidity, and poise 
themselves in the air by a peculiar vibration of their wings. The 
sphinges, which have long trunks, can thus sip up the honey from 
the nectaries of flowers without touching them, and this peculiarity 
recalls that of the humming birds of the New World. 
The Sphinges are very remarkable, even as caterpillars. They 
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