TRANSFORMATIONS OF SOME SOUTH-AFRICAN LEPIDOPTERA. 307 



Family SPHINGID.E. 



Subfamily Acheeoitiina 



8. Acherontia atropos (Linngeus). 



No description is necessary of the larva of this well-known species ; and 1 will 

 merely remark that I reared it on a species of Spathoclia, an imported tree which is 

 often met with in Berea Bush, Durban. The larva underwent its transformation on 

 14th February, and the imago emerged on 17th March after a pupation of 38 days. 

 This is one of the instances of larvae feeding on imported trees in Natal. 



I also reared the dark form (body uniformly fuscous, first three somites pink 

 subdorsally) at Maritzburg, on Jasminium pubigerum (also an imported plant in Natal). 

 This larva underwent its transformation on 5th April, and hibernated in the pupal 

 stage ; this form is much rarer than the green and yellow form. 



Subfamily Smekinthina 



9. Lophostethus dumolinii (Latreille) l . (Plate XLVIII. fig. 7, larva; fig. 8, 

 pupa.) 



Larva. Ground-colour very pale green, a pair of blue-black steely branched spines 

 with pale yellow bases and basal areas subdorsally on each somite from 2nd to 10th. 

 The 1st somite has no spines, and the 11th has only one spine, thicker than the others 

 and replacing the horn in other species. A lateral row of smaller black spines 

 springing from the upper edge of a spiracular row of large yellow spots ; a subspiracular 

 row of small black spines springing from lower edge of above-mentioned spots, and, 

 below these, two spines placed diagonally on the 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th somites 

 just above the claspers ; the 5th somite having three spines, and the 2nd, 3rd, and 

 10th somites one spine each in this series. Abdominal claspers yellow, with black 

 extremities, each extremity bearing three short black divergent spines ; anal extremity 

 and claspers horny and rufous, with a broad black edging. Head pale green superiorly, 

 pale ferruginous interiorly ; two black vertical stripes on the face, ending with a 

 detached black spot above them. Sides of head black, as in the larva of Acherontia 

 atropos. Thoracic legs pale ferruginous, banded with black. 



1 " A brief description of the extraordinary spiny larva of this Hawk-moth — drawn up by me from a 

 coloured drawing by Mr. W. D. Gooch, and a coloured photograph by the late Dr. J. E. Seaman — was 

 published by Prof. Meldola in his English edition of Weismann's ' Studies in the Theory of Descent,' vol. ii. 

 pp. 527, 528 (1882)."— R. Trimen. 



vol. xv. — part vi. No. 3. — April, 1901. 2 x 



