208 COMMON BRITISH INSECTS. 



speckled with white, and has seven diagonal stripes 

 on each side of the body. The horn is blue. 



Then there is the less conspicuous, but really 

 beautiful, POPLAR HAWK-MOTH (Smerinthus populi), 

 so common in the summer, clinging to the bark of 

 trees, to rough posts, and other objects which some- 

 what resemble it in general colour. It may be known 

 by the mottled brown of the upper wings, with a 

 white spot in the middle, and the warm chestnut at 

 the base of the lower wings. The caterpillar is rough, 

 like that of the last-mentioned species, and is green 

 sprinkled with yellow, and has seven diagonal yellow 

 stripes on each side. The horn is yellow above and 

 orange beneath. This caterpillar is plentiful, and can 

 be beaten out of the boughs of the Lombardy poplar. 



ON lime and elm trees may be found the larva of 

 the LIME HAWK-MOTH (Smerinthus tilice). This is 

 easily known by the very deep scalloping of the fore- 

 wings and the prevalence of olive-green in its colour- 

 ing. There is some variation in the arrangement of 

 the markings, but the present species is the only one 

 in which the deep olive-green is the leading colour, 

 without any admixture of chestnut or pink. The 

 attitude of the Moth at rest is a very curious one, the 

 under wings being completely concealed beneath the 

 upper pair, the scalloped edges of which, and their 

 mottled surface, have the most astonishing resem- 

 blance to a pair of withered leaves. 



The larva is pale green, and covered with very 

 small tubercles, each being topped with yellow. 

 Along the sides are seven diagonal stripes of yellow, 



