i6o 



ARTIIROrODS : INSECTS. 



The Five-spotted Sphinx expands about five inches, 

 and is of a mixed gTa\'ish and bhickisli color, and on 

 each side of the bod\' tliere are fi\'e orange-colored 

 spots surrounded b}' black. Its tongue, \\hen fully 

 unrolled, is fi\'e or six inches long, but when not in 

 use is coiled up nearl)- out of sight. The caterpillar 

 is known as the potato worm, and is green, with ob- 

 lique whitish stripes on the sides, and a thorn-like pro- 

 jection on the tail. It attains its full length, three 

 inches or more, in August, and then buries itself in 



Fig. 272. — Larva of Five-spotted Sphinx. 



the ground. Here, in a few days, it throA\'s off its 

 skin and becomes a chr3rsalis, of a bright brown color, 



Fig. 273. — Clirysalis of Five-spotted Sphinx. 



with a long tongue-case bent over from the head, its 

 end touching the breast, and somewhat resembling the 

 handle of a pitcher. It remains in the ground all 

 winter, and in the following summer the large moth 

 crawls out of it, comes to the surface, mounts a plant, 

 and waits till the approach of e\-ening, when it flies 

 away in search of food. 



