18 THE DESTRUCTIVE SPHINX. 



the palpi are black beneath ; the thorax is immaculate ; 

 the superior wings are steel-blue, without any hyaline 

 spot ; the inferior wings are hyaline, with an opaque 

 margin, and longitudinal line, of the latter colour ; the 

 tergum, the fifth segment, bright reddish fulvous. 



The PUPA has two semifasciae of spines upon each 

 of the segments, excepting the three terminal ones, 

 which have a single row only. 



The FOLLICLE is brown, oblong-oval, composed of 

 small pieces of bark and earth, closely connected 

 together by the web of the animal. 



This insect has been for years the cause of great 

 solicitude and regret to all the lovers of fine fruit in 

 America. Small as this creature is, measuring only 

 half an inch in length.it is the silent, insidious destroyer 

 of the peach tree. 



The sexes are so remarkably different from each 

 other, that it was with much diffidence Mr Say yielded 

 his assent to their specific unity, and that was from 

 a knowledge of the circumstance that the sexes of 

 many of the species are very unlike each other. In 

 this instance, the difference is so great as to render 

 it difficult to construct a good common specific 

 character. 



It was to Mr James Worth, a zealous and careful 

 observer, that Mr Say was indebted for the principal 

 part of the accurate information which he possessed 

 of this sphinx. The following observations are 

 extracted from a valuable essay by that gentleman, 

 published in the third volume of the American 

 Transactions. 



