210 THE INSECT WORLD. 
after sunset. If caught, or when teased, it utters a ery which is 
very audible. " 
The death’s-head hawk-moth would be a very inoffensive 
being if it did not make its way into beehives, in order to steal 
the honey, of which it is excessively fond. It is to no purpose that 
the bees dart their stings at the intruder, they only blunt them 
against its thick skin, and soon, terrified at its presence, disperse 
on all sides. ne 
The caterpillar of the Acherontia atropos (Fig. 194) is the 
largest of all Huropean caterpillars. It attains to as much as four 



































































































































































































































































































Fig. 194.—Larva of the Death’s-head Hawk-Moth (Acherontia atropos). 
and a half inches in length by eight lines in diameter. Its colour 
is lemon yellow, which changes into green on the sides and belly. 
From the fourth to the tenth ring inclusively, it 1s ornamented 
laterally with seven oblique bands of an azure blue, which are 
tinted with violet, and bordered with white on the side. These 
bands joining together over the back of each segment resemble so 
many chevrons placed parallel to each other. The body is, moreover, 

