SPURGE HAWK-MOTIl. 417 



presence, it could uot be extracted Avitbuut killing the eater- 

 pillar. Supposing, however, that the Moth lias successfully 

 made its exit from the pupal shell, and has shaken out its 

 wings to the fullest extent, it can be killed by placing it under 

 a glass, and introduoing into the same some bruised young 

 laurel- leaves. I find that the most effectual mode of employing 

 the laurel is to take a dozen small leaves, wrap them in muslin, 

 roll them up tightly, and, with two or three blows of a mallet, 

 crush them. The folded muslin can then be slipped under the 

 glass, and in a very short time the IMoth quietly expires, su 

 that an absolutely perfect and bright specimen is obtained. 



When the insect is quite dead the abdomen should be care- 

 fully severed from the body, and the whole of the contents 

 removed by enlarging the little opening which will then be left 

 at its base. The empty abdomen should then be stuffed with 

 cotton wool, care being taken to make it full large in order to 

 allow for shrinking, and when it is dry it may be joined to the 

 thorax without leaving the least trace of the junction. It will be 

 as well to pour a few drops of benzole into the abdomen and 

 also into the thorax, as this precaution will keep off the mites 

 and other creatures that work destruction among dried insects. 

 All large-bodied INIoths should be thus treated, and some of 

 them can scarcely be preserved from the unsightly ' grease,' so 

 hated by entomologists, without this useful substance. 



For the purpose of rearing the Moth from the larva, the 

 latter should be obtained about August, as it will then be 

 nearly full-fed, and save a vast amount of trouble in procuring 

 a supply of food. The pupae themselves may be found under 

 the soil somewhere about September. 



On "Woodcut XLIV. Fig. 3, may be seen a figure of the 

 pretty and rare Spurge Hawk-Moth {Deilephila euphorbice). 

 The colour of the upper wings of this insect is grey, with two 

 large olive-brown spots and a diagonal band of the same colom-. 

 The lower wings are pink, with a large black patch near the 

 base, a black band nearly parallel with the margin, and a white 

 spot at the anal angle. 



Specimens of these JNIoths have been bred from the cater- 

 pillar, but I believe that none have been captured with the 

 net, so that of the many specimens which are found in private 



E K 



