ii.] BRIGHTLY COLORED CATERPILLARS. 51 



Chcerocampa nerii is also an interesting case. Many of 

 the hawk-moth caterpillars have eye-like spots, to which 

 I shall have to allude again presently. These are gene- 

 rally reddish or yellowish, but in Ch. nerii, which feeds 

 on the periwinkle, they are bright blue, and in form as 

 well as color closely resemble the blue petals of that 

 flower. Ch. celerio also has two smaller blue spots, 

 with reference to which I can make no suggestion. It is 

 a very rare species, and I have never seen it. Possibly, 

 in this case, the blue spots maybe an inherited character. 

 No one who looks at any representations of hawk- 

 moth caterpillars can fail to be struck by the peculiar 

 coloring of those belonging to the genus Anceryx, 

 which differ in style of coloring from all other sphinx 

 larvae, having longitudinal bands of brown and green. 

 Why is this ? Their habitat is different. They feed on 

 the leaves of the pinaster, and their peculiar coloring 

 offers a general similarity to the brown twigs and narrow 

 green leaves of a conifer. There are not many species of 

 Lepidoptera which feed on the pine, but there are a 

 few ; such, for instance, are Acliatia spreta and Dendro- 

 limus pini, both of which have a very analogous style of 

 coloring to that of Anceryx, while the latter has also 

 tufts of bluish-green hair which singularly mimic the 

 leaves of the pine. It is still more remarkable that in a 

 different order of insects, that of the Hymenoptera, we 

 again find species, for instance, Lophyrus soda, which 

 live on the pine, and in which the same style of 

 coloring is repeated. 



Let us now take a single group, and see how far we 

 can explain its various colors and markings, and what 

 are the lessons which they teach us. For this purpose, I 



E 2 



