DEATH'S-HEAD HAWK-MOTH. 135 



mens of the perfect insect are still regarded by 

 collectors as a desirable acquisition. The cater- 

 pillars are usually full grown about the middle of 

 August, when they bury themselves in the earth 

 and form an oval cell in which they undergo 

 their destined changes. The moth seldom appears 

 before the end of September ; it conceals itself in 

 some obscure place during the day, and appears 

 on the wing only in the morning and evening 

 twilight. In the southern parts of England, a 

 considerable number of specimens are found annu- 

 ally ; and although it becomes rarer in the north, it 

 has been observed not unfrequently both in the 

 north of England and in Scotland. In the latter 

 country we have seen examples from Ayrshire, 

 Perthshire, the vicinity of Jedburgh, and Mid- 

 lothian, and have heard of their occurrence in 

 many other places. 



Over foreign lands the Death's-head Hawk-moth 

 has a wide range of distribution. It occurs in con- 

 siderable abundance in all the southern countries of 

 Europe, in the two extremities of Africa, and in 

 the Isle of France. In the latter country, according 

 to St. Pierre, a belief prevails that the dust cast from 

 its wings, in flying through an apartment, produces 

 blindness if it happen to fall upon the eyes. 



The great size of this creature, its remarkable 

 appearance, the " grim feature" stamped upon its 

 thorax, together with the power it possesses of 

 emitting a plaintive and mournful cry, have con- 

 spired to render it an object of alarm to the 



