4 PLATE CCLIII. 



the winged ftate, we find more permanent and chara£l:eriftic diftinc- 

 tions. 



Linnaeus, and after him Fabricius, defcribes three varieties of 

 Phalasna Pavonia, a minor /3 media and 7 major. The firfl: is the 

 fpecies found in this country, and in the north of Europe. The 

 exiftence of the fecond was form.erly difputed by fome naturalifts ; 

 and the laft is fo extremely different^ at leaft in point of magnitude^ 

 that we may almoft venture to remove it entirely from the two pre- 

 ceding. 



The difference betv/een the male and female of the common 

 Emperor Moth is ftrlkingly obvious ; the male is fmaller than the 

 female, and the colours in general darker ; the pofterior wings alfa 

 are orange in the male, and not fo in the female ; and finally, the 

 two fexes may be determined by the ftru^lure of the antennas : thofe 

 of the male being nearly oval, and very deeply feathered, or pecti- 

 nated, and thofe of the female being alfo pe6linated, but fo llightly 

 as to appear fetaceous. As the ftru6lure of the antenna is an uner- 

 ring criterion by which the fexes are afcertained, the Fhalsena Pavonia 

 ^nedia is a phsenomenon in Entomology, for both the male and female 

 fo perfectly refembles the female Emperor Moth, P. P. media, which 

 we have figured, that it may be miftaken for the fame fpecies t the 

 female differs in no refpeCt from it ; and the male only in the form 

 of the antennx. We have received this remarkable fpecies from 

 Italy and Germany. It is figured only by Efper, Phal. 3. tab. 3 ; 

 and is thus defcribed by Linna;us and Fabricius, /3 media : " fingu- 

 laris ob foeminam mari fimillrmam." The third, P, Pavonia major, 

 can by no means be confounded with the preceding : our fpecimen of 

 it is fix inches in breadth, and is alfo very bulky r it is found in the 

 Pays de vaud. Roefcl has given a figure of both fexes with the larva 

 and pupa. The winged Infect is of a dingy brown, the marks 

 fomewhat fimilar to thofe of the common kind. The larva is large, 

 v/ith the head fmali in proportion. The whale is of a citron green, 



furnilhed 



