2G2 



IlKsri;niD.E.- 



-IXSECTS.- 



-Sphingid.u. 



Id their flight they are very rapid, the eye being 

 scarcely able to follow their movements. They are 

 foud of the hottest sunshine, and in rapidity of wing 

 they rival the Hawk-moths. Our English collectors 

 have given them the name of " Skippers," from their 

 peculiar flitting movements. The caterpillars are of 

 moderate length, cylindrical, fleshy, and not spined. 

 They have a large head and a narrow neck, and gene- 

 rally live in roUed-up leaves ; hence Dr. Boisdiival has 

 given the name of Involuti to the division which con- 

 tains them. The chrysalis is entire, and is generally 

 without angular prominences. It is attached by the tail, 

 and is girt round the middle, being, however, sometimes 

 inclosed in a slight silken cocoon among the rolled 

 leaves. 



Tlie chief character of the family consists in the 

 middle legs having a pair of spurs in the middle of 

 the hind tibiai, a character not met with in other 

 butterflies. 



Mr. Westwood gives the following as the characters 

 of the family . — The head ia often very broad, and has 



generally a tuft of hairs at the base of the antennse, 

 which are wide apart and often terminated by a thick 

 club or a strong-curved hook. The eyes are large and 

 very prominent. The labial palpi are short and broad, 

 and closely compressed against the face; they are 

 densely covered with scales, and the terminal joint is 

 often very minute, scaleless, and conical. The spiral 

 tongue is very long. The forewings have always four 

 branches to tlio postcostal vein ; all rising before the 

 extremity of the discoidal cell. The hind wings have 

 the anal portion of the outer margin often produced 

 into a lobe or tail. The fore legs are perfect ; the tibiae 

 are short, and have generally a horny flattened spur 

 on the inside beyond the middle, which is generally 

 concealed by long hairs. The peculiar spurs on the 

 intermediate legs have been previously noticed. The 

 hind legs have generally a pair of spurs below the 

 middle and another pair at the tip. The tarsi are long, 

 and have rows of short spines beneath ; the claws are 

 much bent, are broad at the base, and have a deep 

 notch in the middle. 



H E T E R C E R A. 



In this great section of the Lepidopitera are placed afl 

 those species in which the antenns is never terminated 

 in a club, as in the preceding group, the Butterflies. In 

 the species composing this group, the antennse are fili- 

 form, fusiform, or setaceous ; the males in many species 

 having them beautifully pectinated. There are not less 

 than nineteen hundred British species known, and the 

 nimiber of exotic species is probably equal to that of 

 any group in the entire order of insects. Interesting 

 as it would undoubtedly be to dwell upon these insects 

 in the same detailed manner in which those composing 

 the preceding orders have been treated, we are com- 

 pelled, by want of space and other circumstances, to 

 give a very brief account of the Moths, which comprise 

 the group Hetcroccra. 



Family— SPUINGID.E. 



These insects are the most robust and powerful of the 

 whole group. They are known in this country as the 

 Hawk-moths. The tongue in many species is very long, 

 being adapted for reaching the bottom of the longest- 

 tubed flowers. They are called Sphingida; from the cir- 

 cumstance of their larva assuming a position, when 

 alarmed, resembling the figure of the emblematic Egyp- 

 tian sphinx. Many of the species only take wing in 

 the evening, about twilight; others fly by day, as does 

 the Humming-bird Hawk-moth — so called from its 

 flight and its mode of hovering on the wing, after the 

 manner of the Humming-bird, whilst it quaffs the nectar 

 of flowers. 



The Sphinx convolvuU takes wing in the evening, 

 not flying, but darting hke a flash of lightning from 

 flower to flower ; its tongue, which is longer than its 

 body, reaching to the bottom of the longest-tubed flower. 



One of the best known and most universally distri- 

 buted species of Sphingidte is Acheronlia atropos (the 



Death's-head moth), so called from the pale skull- 

 shapcd spot on its thorax, which has caused its ap- 

 pearance to be regarded with dread by the superstitious. 

 This moth sometimes commits depredations on the 

 stores of the Hive bee, a fact well known to apiarians. 

 All the species of this family are beautiful insects, 

 being, as it were, painted in the richest and most 

 harmonious colours. Some of the British species 

 are of great rarity, as S. Pinastri and Deilephila 

 Euphorhicc. 



Family— ^GEEID^. 



The family .iEgerid^e contains the moths known as 

 Clear-wings. 



Fig. 160. 



Ciiethocaniim processiouca. 

 a mule; h fcuiale. 



Larva of ZiHiizei'a 

 .^sculi. 



Family— BOMBYCID^. 



The family BombycidjE contains the silk-producing 

 species ; the best known, and that which produces the 



