LEPIDOPTERA, 



195 



trunk the while into the corollas of flowers, counterbalancing the 

 action of its weight by the continuous vibration of its wings. 



We will describe in a few words this robust inhabitant of the air, 

 this charming bird-fly. The Macroglossa stellatarum shows itself 

 during the whole of the fine season, and till the middle of autumn, in 

 our climate. It often penetrates in the middle of the day into our 



Fig. 178. — Humming-bird Hawk-Moth {Macroglossa stellatarunt). 



houses, and knocking itself against the window-panes, falls an easy 

 prey to children. Its front wings are of an ashy brown, of changing 

 hues above, with three black, transverse, undulating lines. The 

 lower, shorter than the others, are of a rusty-yellow colour. All the 

 wings are yellowish below near the body, ferruginous in the middle, 

 and of a dark brown at their extremities. 



The body is long, brown, hairy^ and terminating in a tuft of 



