LIME HAWK-MOTH 



was frightened at the release of such an innocent six- 

 legged prisoner, one trembles to think what would happen 

 if a real offender, with a less number of legs, came under 

 his control . The handsome Lime-Hawk is the first species 

 upon our list, and to this attention may now be directed. 



GROUP SPHINGES 



FAMILY SPHINGID^, OR HAWK-MOTHS 



Lime Hawk-Moth. — {Dilina {Mimas) tilice.) This 

 moth (see Frontispiece) should be sought for wherever 

 limes — its favourite food-plant — abound, its chief strong- 

 holds being in the South, as it becomes rarer in the 

 Midland and Northern Counties. It may be sought for 

 in May and June in the neighbourhood of the trees it 

 frequents as an egg-depositing site (limes and elms), 

 and thereafter (July and August) the striped larva may 

 also be located. These long-tongued insects, it should 

 be remembered, are night-revellers, and only flowers 

 having a long corolla tribe are, as a rule, visited. Con- 

 sequently, the imago is rarely seen, unless accidentally 

 discovered when at rest. The one or two eggs are laid 

 on the under sides of the leaves, and the green larva has 

 seven yellow stripes on each side of the body, with a 

 curved horn on the extremity, a peculiarity present on all 

 the Hawk-Moth tribe. The chocolate-coloured pupa 



may be found under ground beneath the food-plants, 



35 



