NOCT UENI, 



THE SPHIKGID^!. 



1. The Eyed Hawk-Moth (Smerinthus ooellatus). 

 , 2. The Poplar Hawk-Moth (Smerinthus Populi). 

 3. The Lime Hawk-Moth (Smerinthus Tiliee). 

 , 4. The Death's-Head Hawk-Moth (Acherontia Atro- 

 pos). 



5- The Convolvulus Hawk-Moth (Sphinx Convolvuli). 

 v- 6. The Privet Hawk-Moth (Sphinx Ligustri}. 

 ^I. The Spurge Hawk-Moth (Deilephila Euphorbia). 



8. The Bedstraw Hawk-Moth (Deilephila Galii). 



9. Tlie Striped Hawk-moth (Deilephila livornica). 

 10. The Silver-striped Hawk-Moth (Chcerocampa Ce- 



lerio). 



11. The Small Elephant Hawk-Moth (Chcerocampa 



Porcellus). 



12. The Elephant Hawk- Moth (Chceroeampa Elpenor). 



13. The Oleander Hawk-Moth (Choerocampa Nerii). 



i 14. The Humming-Bird Hawk-Moth (Macroglossa 



stellatarum). 

 !5. The Broad-Bordered Bee Hawk-Moth (Macro- 



glossa fuciformis) . 

 16. The Narrow-Bordered Bee Hawk-Moth (Macro* 



glossa bombyliformis'). 



THE Moths may be known from Butterflies by 

 four characters that are very simple and easy 

 to understand. In the first place, they fly 

 by night instead of by day ; in the second 

 place, their bodies are not nipped in at the 

 middle or waist, like those of butterflies ; in 

 the third place, their feelers, or antenna, 

 have no knobs at the end like those of butter- 

 flies ; and, in the fourth and last place, when a 

 moth is at rest, its wings are either laid on its 

 body or folded round its sides, whilst those of 

 a butterfly stand up straight, quite upright, 

 and back to back. 



Having thus a method by which we can 

 distinguish a Moth from a Butterfly, we must 

 try to find how to make divisions among the 

 Moths ; for there are about nineteen hundred 

 Moths in Great Britain and Ireland, and un- 

 less we can divide this large assemblage into 

 sections, we shall have a great difficulty in 

 making our descriptions intelligible. 



The first family are called Hawk- Moths, or 

 Humming-bird Moths (from their mode of 

 flight), and in Latin Sphingidce, derived from 

 a fancied resemblance of the caterpillars 

 which produce these Moths, to the celebrated 

 Egyptian Sphinx, a fictitious animal, of which 

 pretended images were carved out of granite 

 three thousand years ago. The Hawk-Moths 

 are all large insects, with thick bodies, rather 

 pointed at the tail, and with rather narrow, 

 but very strong wings ; they fly with great 

 velocity. Many of them have a very long 

 honey-sucking tube, which they stretch out 

 it, a straight lin before their heads, and in- ' 



sorting it into the cups of flowers, they suck 

 out the honey while hovering in the air. Mr. 

 Douglas has written the following beautiful 

 description of the flight of a Sphinx : " Did 

 you ever see a Sphinx fly ? While you are 

 looking at a flower, in the twilight, between 

 you and it glides a motion, a moving haziness, 

 which is before you, and yet conveys to your 

 eyes no definite image. Before you have half 

 thought what it can be, you see the flower 

 again distinctly, and rub your eyes, thinking 

 there must have been an illusion, or possibly 

 an unsteadiness of vision caused by the irri- 

 tation of that gnat which was buzzing about 

 your head, when, lo ! the flower just beyond 

 seems to shiver ; you move to see what is 

 there, but there is a move before you, and a 

 <iim shadow flits away like a thought. Car 

 it be anything real ? Stand still awhile : anC 

 now, in the increasing gloom, as you bend 

 over the petunias, holding your breath, you 

 see a darkness visible drop down before you : 

 but its presence is better made known by the 

 humming caused by the rapid vibration of 

 its wings. Stir not, or this aerial body will 

 float away. Now, you see it deigns not to 

 alight, or touch the margin of the chalice; 

 but poising itself in the air, stretches out 

 its long tubular tongue, and quaffs the nectar 

 at the bottom." 



The caterpillars of all the Sphingidas are 

 large and smooth, they are quite without 

 hairs, and most of them have a hard curved 

 horn just above the tail. We nowpioceed 

 to d( scribe the Moths in systematic order, 



