The Life Story of the Privet Hawk-Moth 145 
instant the latter have become reversed to the resting attitude of the moth. The 
antennee are laid along each side of the head and thorax as our insect rests, for it 
has now completed its metamorphosis, but is not yet capable of flight for some hours. 
If it emerges at night-time, as daylight approaches it may crawl lower down the 
branches, where it remains until night, when, given warm and favourable weather, 
it takes its flight and seeks its mate. 
Although the privet hawk-moth is plentiful in England, the nocturnal habits of this 
insect offer little opportunity of observing it, especially in its powerful flight. Many 
natural history works give the time of flight as just before nightfall, but so far as my 
experience goes this insect is certainly more nocturnal than sub-nocturnal in its habits, 
as I have often seen and 
captured specimens when on 
the wing, and resting on the 
ground, round about electric 
arc-lights just on the out- 
skirts of the town, at mid- 
night and during the early 
hours of the morning. ‘'T’o see 
a large specimen of this moth 
whirling round an electric are- 
light in its rapid flight is a 
sight well worth witnessing: 
its four and a- 
half inches of 
wing expanse 
—which a 
good specimen 
should meas- 
ure—seems 
considerably 
greater as it 
continues its 
flight. 
The only 
way to fully 
appreciate and 
understand the 
interesting 
wonders and ; The larger insect is the female. 
beauties in the 
life histories of insects is to look to the insects themselves. These in every instance 
reveal facts and features alike fascinating and instructive, which will more than repay 
the observer for any time spent in their study, and I trust that my brief description 
here may act as a stimulus in encouraging others to consider at the next opportunity 
the actual life history of this common and beautiful moth. 
Ward. 
