38o 



LEPIDOPTERA 



ment, which is of peculiar form, specially suitable for the 

 purpose. The caterpillar, when wishing to enlarge its case, builds 

 it up from excrement " flattened at the sides, so as to adapt it 

 for building purposes." ^ 



Fam. 9. Sphingidae {Hawk -moths). — A very important 

 family of moths of large or moderate size. They have a pro- 

 boscis which is frec^uently very long ; there is a frenulum ; the 

 body is stouter than in most other Lepidoptera, and the wings 

 are of small superficies in comparison with it ; the antennae are 

 somewhat peculiar, liaving a thick, solid appearance, pointed at 

 the tip. This is usually somewhat hooked, and bears a few hairs. 

 In the males the antennae are formed in a manner specially 

 characteristic of the family. In section, each joint shows a 

 chitinous process on the under side (Fig. 189, A), forming with 

 that of the other joints a continuous ridge, and on each 



Fig. 1S9. — Antennae 

 of Sphingidae. A, 

 One joint of an- 

 tenna pf Choero- 

 campa elpenor S , 

 enlarged ; B, tliree 

 joints of antenna of 

 Sphinx liffnstn, 

 seen from one side, 

 and enlarged. 



side of this ridge there exists a series of short, delicate " cilia " 

 ■ arranged in a very beautiful manner (Fig. 189, B). This structure, 

 with some modifications, appears to be usually present in the 

 family ; it attains a very perfect development in cases where 

 the tips of two rows of cilia liend towards one another, meeting 

 so as to form an arched cavity. This structure is different from 

 what occurs in the males of other families of Lepidoptera, for 

 though cilia are very common, they are usually placed either on 

 two projections from the body of the antennae (instead of on the 

 two sides of a single projection), or there is but a single whorl, or 

 set, of them on each joint {Catocala, etc.). The front wings are 

 usually pointed at the tip, and are long in proportion to their 

 width ; but in the Smerinthini they are of different form, with 

 the outer margin scalloped ; the hind wings are remarkably 

 small ; the abdomen is frequently pointed, but in the Macro- 

 glossini, or Humming-bird hawk-moths, it is furnished at the 



' Jones, P. Liverpool Soc. xx.xiii. 1879, p. Ixxvii. 



