12 GENUS SPHINX. 



perceiving some wounds in the branches that had 

 much the appearance of being made by the entrance 

 of small shot, I cut off a branch, when I found that 

 the medulla, or pith, was destroyed, and its place 

 converted into a commodious apartment and passage 

 for some insects. I traced it for several inches, and 

 found it occupied by a grub, or maggot ; and know- 

 ing this must be the larvae of some fly or moth, I 

 determined on securing a few of them at the proper 

 season, to see the result of their transformations. 

 Having obtained some in a chrysalis state, I placed 

 them under a glass, when, after some weeks, one of 

 them produced a beautiful specimen of the JEgeria 

 tipulifbrmis." 



A few only of the sphinges are remarkable for the 

 gaiety and splendour of their colours, which render 

 the butterfly tribe so pleasing and interesting to general 

 observers. There is, however, to counterbalance thi?, 

 a peculiar grace and elegance of form throughout the 

 whole of the sphinges, which at once distinguish them 

 from the moths. The sphinges of Britain are not 

 numerous, being, as is the case in other regions of 

 the globe, a very limited genus when compared with 

 the butterflies and moths. 



