6 DEATH'S-HEAD MOTH. 



branch, even the most practised eye can scarcely 

 detect it. 



WE next come to that splendid insect popularly 

 known as the DEATH'S-HEAD MOTH (Acherontia 

 atropos, Plate I. fig. 2), on account of the peculiar 

 mark on the upper part of the thorax. The span 

 of wings of this, the largest of our British Lepi- 

 doptera, averages about four and a half inches. 



The peculiar velvety clothing of the thorax 

 and abdomen, mentioned above as so remarkable 

 in the sphinges, is especially noticeable in this 

 species. The colour of the upper wings is a 

 dark blackish brown, shaded and mottled with 

 ochreous yellow, warming into chestnut. The 

 lower wings are buff, marked with two blackish 

 bars. The abdomen is of the same colour as 

 the lower wings, but diversified with six trans- 

 verse bars, of a deep bluish black, crossed by 

 another that runs lengthwise along the upper 

 surface throughout its whole length. 



On the thorax is the singular " death's-head " 

 from which the insect derives its name : a re- 

 presentation, in some specimens of marvellous 

 fidelity, of a skull plainly figured in yellowish 

 buff on a black ground. This remarkable insect 

 has the power, supposed to be unique among 



