pi. i.;2(j. 



Deilepldla A'erii, Ocliscuhcinicr. 



AND TIIKIR TRANSFORMATIONS. 21 



SPECIES l.-CH(EllOCAi\ri'A NERII. TFIE OLEANDER HAAVK-MOTH. 



Plate V. fiff. 1—3. 



Synonymfs.— Sp/iinj A'erii, Linnmis; Rosel, Ina. Belnst. v. 3, I Daphnis Nerii, Hiibncr (Vera. bek. Schin.) ; Curtis, Brit. Ent. 

 t. 15, 1() ; Stephens, Ent. Mag. vol. i. 52.">, and llhist. Haust. 4, p. 

 381 ; Woo<l. pi. 52, f. 37 ; Ernst. 3, pi. 104, f. 153, a—f. 



Metopsihts Nerii, Duncan, Hrit. Moths, pi. 9. 



This magnificent rpc(?nt addition to our native Spliingidffl measures .ibout 4^ inches in the expansion of its 

 fore wings, of whicli the ground colour is an olive-green, varied with shades of rosy ochre and white. At the 

 base is a pale spot bearing a dark dot, succeeded by a largo patch of deep green, rounded externally and edwed 

 with white ; then follows a broad pinkish rose bar, extending obliquely across tbe wing, bearing several pale and 

 dark-green dashes, and terminated in an angulated dark-brown stripe, edged with wliite towards the costa, and 

 with a short white strii)e running obliquely to the tip of the wing ; the hinder angle is darker, and varied with 

 shades of brown and greenish ; the hind wings are dark at the base ; the anal margin whitish, separated from 

 the rest of the wing by a black stripe ; across the middle of the wing runs a slender white sinuous bar ; the outer 

 margin dark -green, except at the anal angle, which is ])ale coloured. The antennaj are pale. The head and 

 thorax dark -green, the latter with a cross line in front ; the sides and hind part paler. The abdomen is (rreenish- 

 brown, with the base and the upper side of the terminal segment dark. 



The immature caterpillar is of a nearly uniform ochre-yellow colour, but when full grown it is pale- 

 green, with a white lateral stripe extending from the fourth segment to the tail, which is short, deflexed, and 

 rugose. The body beneath this line, and the anterior and anal segments, are yellowish-green ; the third segment 

 with a large blue patch on each side, composed of a double white pupil and a black iris; the spiracles are 

 black, bordered with yellow, and the fore feet arc blue-black. As its specific name implies, it feeds on the Rose 

 bay (Nerium oleander) ; it is, however, occasionally found on the lesser periwinkle. 



The first recorded capture of this species was made at Dover, by a lady, in the beginning of September 1833, 

 as mentioned by Jlr. Stephens (in the Entomological JIagazine, vol. i. p. 525) ; by whom, however, its admis- 

 sion as a native species was doubted, on the ground that the Oleander was not a native plant. But as it also 

 feeds on the Vinca minor, I do not hesitate to regard it as indigenous, especially as a caterpillar of it was 

 found in a garden at Teignmouth, in August 1832, and communicated to the late Captain Blomer ; the peri- 

 winkle being abundant in the garden where it was found. A third instance of its occurrence at Van, near 

 Barnstable, Devon, has been communicated to me by W. Raddon, Esq. On the Continent it is widely dis- 

 tributed, extending as far as India, and frequenting the south of Europe ; being common in the neighbourhood 

 of Genoa, Turin, &c. Occasionally, however, it occurs in gi-eat numbers in more northern latitudes ; thus in 

 1835 it abounded almost all over France, as we learn from various articles publislied in tlie Annales de la Societe 

 Entomologique de France, &c. 



SPECIES 2.— CHffiROCAMPA CELERIO. THE SILVER-STRIPED HAWK-MOTH. 



Plate r. fig. 4—6. 



Synonymes.— 5jD/itn.r Ce/^rio, Linnaeus ; Donovan, Brit. Iiis. G P/m^tErea JHywJ/uj?/^, Harris, Exposition, pi. 28, f. I. 



pi. 190, 191 ; Haworth. I Meiopsihis Celerio, Duncan, Bvit. Mollis, pi. 10. 



Deilephila Celerio, Ocliscnheimer, Curtis, Stephens ; Wood, Ind. Ilippolion Celerio, Ilubner, Verz. bek. Schm. 



Ent. t. 4, f. 17. ' 



The expansion of the fore wings varies from 2~ to 3 inches. The ground-colour of the wings is brownish- 



