642 THE HUMMING-BIRD MOTH AND THE HYLAS. 



alis state it should be placed in a vessel containiDg seven or eight 

 inches of earth, which should be kept moderately damp by means of 

 a moist sponge or wet piece of moss laid on the top. If this precau- 

 tion be not taken, the shell of the chrysalis is apt to become so hard 

 that the moth is unable to break its way out, and perishes in the shell. 

 I have several specimens where the moth has thus perished. 



One of the most curious points in the history of the Death's-head 

 Moth is its power of producing a sound— a faculty which is truly re- 

 markable among the Lepidoptera. The noise is something like the 

 grating, squeaking cry of the field-cricket, but not nearly so loud. 



Although not gifted with the brilliant hues which decorate so many 

 of the Hawk-moths, the Humming-bird Moth is a more interesting 

 creature than manv an insect which can boast of treble its dimensions 



and dazzling richness of color. 

 This insect may readily be known 

 Iby its very long proboscis, the 

 tufts at the end of the abdomen, 

 and the peculiar flight, which so 

 % exactly resembles that of hum- 

 ming-birds that persons accus- 

 tomed to those feathered gems 

 have often been deceived into the 

 idea that England actually pos- 

 sesses a true humming-bird. Ow- 

 ing to its arrowy flight and the 

 piercing vision with which such 

 flight is always accompanied, the 

 capture of the moth is a matter 

 of no small difficulty, and when 

 it settles the quiet, sober hues of 

 its plumage render it so similar in color to the objects on which it rests 

 that the eye can hardly distinguish its outline; and, being gifted with 

 an instinctive appreciation of the objects best suited for its conceal- 

 ment, it is sure to alight on some surface which presents hues akin to 

 those of its body and wings. 



In the curious moths of which the Hylas is a good example the 

 wings are as transparent as those of the bee tribe, and, indeed, the 

 hymenopterous idea seems to run through the whole of these creatures 

 so thoroughly that the shape of their bodies, the mode of flight, even 

 the manner in which they move the abdomen, are so bee- and wasp- 

 like that an inexperienced observer would certainly mistake them for 

 some species of the Hymenoptera, Others there are which bear an 

 equal resemblance to the gnats, and are of correspondingly small di- 

 mensions. These insects fly in a manner somewhat resembling the 



The Humming-bird Moth [Macrogl 

 slellatarum). 



