THE LEPIDOPTERA 



287 



'feeding during the summer; and pupation in the fall, with the winter spent in 

 this stage, appears to be the general rule, though with some exceptions, for most 

 if not all of the species. 



Family Sphingidse (The Hawk Moths). This large and widespread 

 group of insects has long and rather narrow fore wings and its members 

 have a strong flight. Most of them are of quite large size (Fig. 303) and 

 fly chiefly at dusk, visiting flowers for the nectar, upon which they feed. 

 They do not alight on the flower but hover over it, running the tongue, 

 which is often much longer than the body, into the nectary. The body 



FIG. 303. Hawk Moth (Sphinx chersis Hbn.), natural size. (Original.) 



is usually rather stout, spindle-shaped, and it and the wings are often 

 beautifully colored with combinations of black, gray, olive, tan and rose 

 or pink. The antennae are large, usually somewhat thickened near the 

 middle, and the end is in some cases curved a little, like a hook. 



The larvae feed upon the leaves of various trees and other plants. 

 They are naked; generally green, though frequently of other colors, and 

 in the former case often have oblique white streaks on the sides of the 

 body and a long horn projecting upward and backward from the upper 

 side near the hinder end. Some when full-grown, may be two or three 

 inches long. Pupation is usually in earthen cells underground, though 

 some form partial cocoons of leaves and silk on the surface. In some 

 species the tongue at the time of pupation is not enclosed by that part 

 of the pupal skin which covers the body, but by a separate portion which 

 joins the remainder at the front of the head and touches the body about 

 halfway back, which makes it resemble the handle of a pitcher or jug 

 in its relation to the pupa as a whole. 



