feO INTRODUCTION. 



point which is occasionally somewhat curved. This 

 thickening of the antennae upwards indicates affi- 

 nity to the diurnal lepidoptera, but in most of their 

 other properties they are more closely allied to the 

 moths or nocturnal kinds. The wings are narrow 

 and elongated, of a firm consistence, and never 

 borne perpendicularly in repose, but either parallel 

 to the plain of position or slightly deflexed. The 

 suctorial trunk (maxillce) is usually of great 

 length, often equal to that of the whole body ; and 

 appears, at least in some instances, to be of a more 

 simple structure than among butterflies, consisting 

 only of a simple semi-cylindric canal. When., for 

 example, that of the death's-head-moth, which is 

 short and rigid, and so sharply pointed as to be 

 able to pierce the skin of the hand, is cut across, 

 only a single perforation of an oval shape is visible. 

 The palpi embrace the base of the trunk, consist of 

 three articulations, and are so densely invested with 

 hairs and scales, that their jointed structure is not 

 discernible till these are rubbed off. The eyes are 

 large, globose, and prominent, composed of a great 

 number of facettes. The tarsi are all divided into 

 five joints ; the intermediate tibiae are furnished 

 with two spines, and the hinder ones with four ; 

 and in the anterior pair, which are destitute of 

 spines, there is a slender lobe lying along a part of 

 the under side of the tibia, and attached to it by 

 the upper extremitv. 



These insects constituted the genus SPHINX ot 

 Linnseus, and they compose tW family named Ore- 



