i 9 6 



THE INSECT WORLD. 



divergent hairs, reminding one of a bird's tail. It is for this reason 

 that it has been called by the French Sphinx Moineau, or Sparrow 

 Sphinx. This resemblance is so great, that 

 Mr. Bates, in his book on the Amazons, 

 says he often shot species of this genus in 

 mistake for humming-birds. The cater- 

 pillar of this remarkable Lepidopteron 

 (Fig. 179) is of a pale green, with eight 

 transversal rows of small white dots and 

 four longitudinal rows, of which two are 

 white and two yellowish. It has a dark 

 blue horn, with an orange-coloured tip. 

 It lives on different species of bed-straw, 

 but by preference on the Galium mollugo. 

 Before its metamorphosis, it encloses itself 

 in a shapeless cocoon, made of the debris of leaves held together 

 by threads, and placed on the surface of the ground. The pupa 

 (Fig. 1 80) is of a light grey, sprinkled over with brown dots, and 

 striped with black. Its skin is so thin and transparent that one can 

 follow it through all the phases of transformation to the imago. 



Fig. 179. Caterpillar of 

 Humming-bird Hawk-Moth 

 (Macroglossa stcllatarum). 



Fig. 180. Pupa of Macroglossa stellatarum. 



The genus Deilephila is composed of species whose flight is rapid, 

 and after sunset. Such are the Deilephila euphorbia, the Oleander 

 Hawk-Moth (Deilephila \Chcerocampd\ nerit), and the large Elephant 

 Hawk-Moth (Deilephila \Chcerocampa\ elpenor). 



The Deilephila euphorbia (Fig. 181) has the upper wings of a 

 reddish grey, with three spots of greenish or olive colour along the 

 costa, or front margin, and a broad black oblique band along the 

 hind margin. The lower wings are red, with the base black, and a 

 transverse black band towards the edge ; they have, moreover, a 



