TM E 



A\ m E HI IJ C A\ Ni 



^tailogisl^B^tanist 



VOL.2 



ST. LOUIS, MO., JULY AND AUGUST, 1870. 



NO. 9. 



^ntomolngtral gepadmciit. 



IHAULES V. niLEY, 

 221 N. Main St.. St. Louis, A 



THE WHITE-LINED MORNING SPHINX. 



{IMhphiU Un.ata, Fahr.p 



Till' VL'i-y jjival diviu-sity ol'loi'iii and liabits to 

 lir found ainong'.'it tlic larva? of our butterflies 

 and moths, has much to do with the interest 

 wliich attaches to the study of these maslced 

 forms. We are moved to admiration aud won- 



[^s^^^S 



dcr as thorouglily to-day 

 every time we contomphit 

 these varied and tan- 

 tastic catei-pillars — these 

 creeping and groveling 

 "worms"— is kuked uj) 

 the future buttufl\, oi 

 moth, whicli is dentin 

 fairy-lilie, to flit tlmn 

 the air on its gau/\ ^mii_- 

 so totally unlilce it- toimci 

 self. Verily the meta- 

 morphoses of the lower 

 animals must prove a 

 never -failing source of 

 joy and felicity to those who have lear 

 open the pages of tlie great Book of Xatu 



arly boyhood, 

 within cai-h of 



But, bejond the general satisfaction experi- 

 enced in studying tlicse transient forms, there 

 will be found ample food for the philosophic 

 mind in the larval variations to be met with in 

 the same species. In other parts of this present 

 ntfmber we have instanced several curious varia- 

 tions in larvjE, caused by the character of their 

 food-plant, and have also shown how some 

 s (e. fj. the common Yellow Bear) vary 

 \iiy much without regard to food- 

 Iniii. Our Sphinx larva?, more par- 

 ciihii-ly. aic subject to these variations, 

 11(1 il is I'm- I his i-cason that larval 

 liarailcr~ mIihic. nnaccompanied by 



lllc vain,' ill rhi-Mll,-ali.iii. 

 Tlic Wliilc-liiird Moniiiig Spliinx 

 (Fig. 1G2) pi-('si'nls one of the most 

 striking cases of larval variation, as 

 may be seen by comparing the dark 

 form of Figure lf)4 with the light form 

 of Figure 1G3. In tlie summer of 1863 

 wo took both these forms on the same 

 )lant, and have repeatedly met with 

 them since; but the moths bred IVoiii 

 show no difl'erenccs whatever. 

 1'his beautiful moth is called by Harris the 

 AVhitc-lined Morning Sphinx, though its generic 

 name means "Evening Friend." It is distin- 

 guished principally by its roseate uudei'-wings, 

 and by a broad, pale band running from the 

 apex (o (he base of (he dark-olive front wings. 



It is a tolerably common insect, and may ijuile 

 frequently be seen at twilight, and oven during 



