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killed it without mercy. The Rev. J. G. Wood l 

 relates an amusing incident where ' A whole circle 

 of village people were standing around a death's head 

 moth that had by some mischance got into the 

 churchyard. Not one of them dared to touch it, 

 and at last it was killed by the village blacksmith, 

 who courageously took a long jump and came down 

 on the unfortunate moth with his iron-shod boots.' 



I hoped to feed and tame this curious sphinx, but 

 it will not partake of any kind of food, not even 

 honey, which is said to be so attractive to this species 

 of moth as to lead it to force its way into beehives, 

 much to the annoyance of the bees ; they are some- 

 times compelled to raise waxen walls at the entrance 

 of the hive to keep out these intruding moths. 



The caterpillar of this sphinx varies much in colour, 

 but is usually of a lemon yellow and green, with 

 violet stripes on its sides ; it is often four or even 

 five inches in length. It feeds on the potato, jessamine, 

 and deadly nightshade, but is not often found, because 

 it hides itself in the earth during the day, and creeps 

 out for its food at night. When labourers are digging 

 up potatoes they frequently find the great chrysalides 

 of this moth, which they invariably call 'locusts,' 

 ' ground-grubs,' or ' maggots.' 



I obtained my specimen from a poor woman 

 who was begging her way to some potato-fields 

 where she hoped to obtain work. I learned that 

 she often came across these ' locusts,' as she called 

 them, when engaged in digging up potatoes, and 

 having received an order for some she duly brought 

 them to rue, but unfortunately only one chrysalid has 

 survived the winter and reached the perfect stage. 



1 Insects at Home. 



