210 



THE INSECT WOELD. 



after sunset. If caught, or when teased, it utters a cry which is 

 very audible. 



The Death's-head Hawk-moth would be a very inoffensive 

 being if it did not make its way into beehives, in order to steal 

 the honey, of which it is excessively fond. It is to no purpose that 

 the bees dart their stings at the intruder, they only blunt them 

 against its thick skin, and soon terrified at its presence, disperse on 

 all sides. 



The caterpillar of the Ach&rontia atropos (Fig. 194) is the 

 largest of all European caterpillars. It attains to as much as four 



Fig. 194 .Larva of the Death's-head Hawk-moth (Acherontia atropos). 



and a half inches in length by eight lines in diameter. Its colour 

 is lemon yellow, which changes into green on the sides and belly. 

 From the fourth to the tenth ring inclusively, it is ornamented 

 laterally with seven oblique bands of an azure blue, which are 

 tinted with violet, and bordered with whits on the side. These 

 bands joining together over the back of each segment resemble so 

 many chevrons placed parallel to each other. The body is, moreover, 



