-papular JDirtumari) of &m'matfrj flature. 633 



thought,' as some one has called it ; though 

 our plain and dusky insect can boast none 

 of its glorious hues. Our little Sphinx ap- 

 pears chiefly in the mornings and evenings 

 of the day, rather avoiding the heat of the 

 midday sun, possibly roused from its rest 

 by the scent, that ' aromatic soul of flowers ' 

 which is principally exhaled at these periods: 

 delighting in the jnsmine, marvel of Peru, 

 phlox, and such tubular flowers ; and it will 

 even insert its long, flexible tube into every 

 petal of the carnation, to extract the honey- 

 like liquor it contains. Nature seems to 

 have given this creature some essential re- 

 quisites for its safety : its activity, when on 

 the wing, renders its capture difficult ; and 

 when it rests it is on a wall, the bark of a 

 tree, or some dusky body, that assimilates 

 so nearly to its own colour as to render it 

 almost invisible, though watched to its set- 

 tlement. We sometimes see it enter our 

 rooms, attracted by flowers in the open 

 windows ; but it seems to be immediately 

 aware of its danger, disappears in an instant, 

 and is safe from capture. Wild and fearful 

 as this creature is by nature, yet continued 

 gentle treatment will remove much of its 

 timidity, and render it familiar to our pre- 

 sence. ' Perfectly free from any annoyance 

 as they are when ranging from sweet to 

 sweet on my borders, and accustomed to a 

 close inspection of all their operations, I 

 have frequently touched their wings with 

 my fingers, while hovering over a flower, 

 and dipping their long tubes into the corolla 

 of a geranium : they would retire a little, 

 confused with such freedoms and interrup- 

 tions, nut,ex|>ericncing no harm, they would 

 return and finish their meal, unmindful of 

 such petty annoyances. I have known this 

 creature, like some other insects, couiiU-rtuit 

 death when apprehensive of danger, fall on 

 its back, and appear in all resects devoid 

 of life when in a box ; and, as soon as a fit 

 opportunity arrived, dart away with its usual 

 celerity." 



In some species the extremity of the ab- 

 domen is elongated, and very acute, and in 

 others broader, and furnished on each side 

 with a brush. Some, again, have scaleless 

 wings (Sesj'a),whence the smaller species have 

 received the names of Scsia fuciformis and 

 S. bombyltfbrmis, in reference to their ana- 

 logical resemblance to drones or Bombylii. 

 These last mentioned species, as well as 

 those with tufted abdomens, fly during the 

 day, the latter thence obtaining the name 

 of Humming-bird Hawk-moths ; whereas 

 the others fly during the twilight, darting 

 about with the greatest rapidity, or hovering, 

 hawk-like, in front of the flowers, from which 

 they extract the nectar with the assistance 

 of their elongated tongue. 

 ! As a striking and yet common example of 

 this family we figure and describe 



The SPHINX LIGUSTRI, or PRIVET HAWK- 

 MOTII. Among the numerous Moths which 

 make their appearance on fine summer 

 evenings, we have no one that is more hand- 

 some, and scarcely one that is more common, 

 l than the Sphinx ligustri. It varies in the 

 I expansion of its wings from three and a half 



to nearly five inches. The fore wings are of 

 an ashy colour, with the base pale, and 

 slightly tinted with rose colour, and having 

 a large dark patch along the inner margin, 

 exk'iiding nearly from the base to the tip ; 

 while slender block lines run longitudinally 

 between the veins of the wings ; along the 

 extremity of this dark patch runs a weaved 

 ashy and block stripe, and a slender wavy 

 white line running parallel with the outer 

 margin. The hind wings are of a pale rosy 

 colour, with three black bands, two of them 

 long and broad, running parallel with the 

 extremity of the wing : the fringe is uni- 

 formly grayish -brown. The hind part of 

 the head and the sides of the thorax are of 

 an ashy-white, but the back of the latter is 



PRIVET HAWK KOTH. (SPHIVX LtOOBTRI.) 



black, posteriorly irroratcd with gray : the 

 sides of the abdomen are of a rich pink-red 

 colour, interrupted by black bars, and with 

 a broad dorsal ashy bar, along the middle 

 of which runs a darker line. The under side 

 of the body is a light dun colour, with a 

 black line down the centre. The Caterpillar 

 is green, with the caudal horn black above, 

 and yellow beneath, and seven oblique strict 



CATERPILLAR Al 



<LI3 OF PRIVET 

 LIOD8TR..) 



on the sides of purple and white : on each 

 side of the head is a strong black mark, and 

 the spiracles are orange. When first hatched 

 the young Caterpillars have the tails re- 

 markablv long, and the bodies very rugose, 

 but they" become smooth at the final moult- 

 ing. By the end of August or the middle of 

 September they are full grown, and become 

 of a dirty-red colour, when they descend into 

 the earth, where they change into a dark 

 brown chrysalis, with the extremity slightly 

 bifid, and the tongue-case straight. The Moth 



