RECENT TJTERATUIiE. 338 



turn, with full descriptions of larva, cocoon, pupn, food-plants, para- 

 sites, and so on ; and the collector will doubtless read with avidity the 

 " Habits and Habitat " section. 



Under Diworpha versicolora the question of its allies is freely dis- 

 cussed, and tlie reader is referred back to vol. i., pp. 124-125, and 

 vol ii., p. 440, for further discussion. One cannot help wishing, liowever, 

 that the author would point out where (when possible) the imaginal 

 characters are in agreement with the biological ones in assigning, or 

 helping to assign, a position to a sub -family. The larval and pupal 

 habits under this species are again full of interest, and cannot fail to 

 engage the attention of both student and collector. 



At p. 265 the super-family Attacides is brought under review. In 

 the Preface the author says he is " entirely dissatisfied with his know- 

 ledge of the relationships of the various families of the Saturniides 

 (Attacides) inter se, of those of the Sphingides inter se, and of these two 

 super-families to each other.'" It, however, cannot be that he has not 

 probed deep enough, for the thirty pages or so, before our only British 

 Attacid [Saturnia pavonia) is treated, require the closest attention of 

 the reader. The very thorough examination and diagnoses of the 

 characters afforded by the larvae of the Attacides will call for time and 

 thought for full digestion. 



From p. 342 to the end of the volume the classification and position 

 of the Sphingides are discussed, and the complete natural history of 

 the British species of Amorphinae and Hemarinte recorded. Starting 

 with Linnaeus, and working through Fabricius, Scopoli, Lamarck, 

 Latreille, Hiibner, Laspeyre, Oken, Leach, Dalmau, Ochsenheimer, 

 Swainson, Boisduval, Stephens, Curtis, Duponchel, Duncan, and 

 Westwood, a very complete review is given of the generic synonymy 

 of the British Sphingids, and at the close a list of the types of the 

 genera deduced is set forth. Another long diagnosis is given to the 

 history of the super-family, and, starting with Reaumer, the works of 

 Hiibner, Stephens, Grote and Robinson, Butler, Herrick-Schiiffer, 

 Meyrick, Poulton, and Dyar, are all brought under the focus in the 

 order given. On pp. 365-366 is a scheme, drawn up by Bacot, for 

 separation into genera, based on larval characters, and close following 

 is a family and sub-family division proposed by Chapman. Concerning 

 the latter, one notes that the Sesiinae are only separated from the 

 Eumorphinte by the tufts to the abdomen, a character that certainly 

 does not hold good throughout. Perhaps in vol. iv. some better 

 character will be furnished when the true Macroglossids come to be 

 reviewed. The high specialisations of both larva, pupa, and imago 

 are fully discussed. The details concerning the pupa offer food for 

 reflection, both as regards the proboscis-casing and the varying 

 position of the glazed eye, which latter, if we are not mistaken, is 

 brought forward for the first time. We have descriptions given of all 

 the different hybrids produced in the Amorphinfe, not the least 

 interesting being the comparison between the hybrids produced by 

 Amorpha populi and Smerinthus ocellata, and hybrids from Amorpha 

 amtauti and Smerinthus atlanticus. A very complete classification of 

 the forms and aberrations of Mimas tilic€ is to hand at p. 404, and the 

 same long lists of localities are given, showing in many cases unsus- 

 pected curtailment or otherwise in the range of distribution. On 



