SPHINX. 



Iharp, ereft, ftifFhorn behind ; the pupa is quiercent : that of 

 the zygaenae folliculate, and a little tapering forwards, tlie 

 reft naked and fmooth ; that ef the fefije pointed at each 

 end, of the others very obtufe behind. 



There are three divifions of this genus ; -viz. A, of which 

 the antenna are fcaly ; feelers hairy; tongue fpiral ; B, in 

 which the antennx are cylindrical ; the tongue is exferted, 

 truncate, and the wings entire ; and C, in which the antenna; 

 are thicker in the middle ; tongue exferted, Cetaceous. Of 

 the principal fpecies of thefe divifions we fliall proceed to 

 zive a brief account. 



Species. 



A. Antenna fcaly ; Feelers hairy ; Tongue fpiral. 



* OcELLATA. Wings angular, lower ones rufous, with 

 a blue eye. This is reckoned a very beautiful infedl ; its 

 upper wings and body are brown, the former finely clouded 

 with different fhades, while the lower wings are of a bright 

 rofe-colour, each marked with a large ocellated black fpot, 

 with a blue interior circle and a black centre. This infeft 

 proceeds from a green caterpillar of a rough or ftagreen-like 

 furface, marked on each fide by feven oblique yellovvifli-white 

 itreaks, and furniflied, like the preceding, with a horn at the 

 tail. It is chiefly found on the willow; retires under ground, 

 in order to undergo its change into the chryfalis Itate, in the 

 month ol Auguii; or September, and in the following June 

 apppears the complete infe£t. 



Myops. Wings angular ; upper pair with a yellow fpot 

 at the tip and pofterior angle ; lower ones yellow, with a 

 blue eye. 



QuERCUS. Wings angular, indented,cinereous, with dark 

 llreaks ; lower ones ferruginous, white at the angle of the 

 tail. This inhabits Germany. The larva is iolitary andof 

 d. green colour, with oblique lateral ftripes and rufous ftig- 

 mata ; pupa chefnut, with rufous margin. 



LuscA. Wings angular, dufliy, with a black dot ; lower 

 ones black, with a fulvous band. It inhabits the South 

 American iflands. The upper wings are cinereous, with 

 brovj'n flexuous bands ; lower wings cinereous at the angle of 

 the tail, with a fulvous blotch ; beneath it is a dull grey, and 

 immaculate. 



* PopULi. Wings indented, reverfed, grey ; upper pair 

 with a white central fpcit ; lower ones ferruginous at the 

 bafe. This is found in England and many parts of Europe. 

 It is figured by Donovan, and other writers on natural hif- 

 tory. The larva is Iolitary, rough, green, with oblique 

 white ftripes on the fides ; the pupa is of a dull brown, but 

 ferruginous behind. 



* TilIjE. Wings angular, with grcenifh clouds and 

 darker bands ; lower ones beneath yellow, teftaceous. The 

 larva is folitary, rough, green, with oblique red and yellow 

 ftripes on the fides ; the pupa is brown. 



Pylas. Wings fcalloped, indented, variegated ; lower 

 ones fulvous, yellow at the bafe, and black at the tip. It 

 inhabits Surinam. Lower wings with a marginal black 

 band, and contiguous fmaller one ; the edge itfelf is yel- 

 lowilh. 



Cacus. Wings indented, black, with three approximate 

 pale ftreaks ; lower ones are yellow, ilriate with black. The 

 abdomen is marked with cinereous and black belts. 



Dentata. Wings indented ; lower ones brown, with a 

 white llreak ; the abdomen is annulate with white. It is an 

 Indian infeft. The head and thorax are blueifli, Ipeckled 

 vfith brown ; the upper wings are blueifli, with brown fpecks 

 and bands. 



Alope. Wings indented, brown ; lower ones yellow, 

 tipt with black ; abdomenblack, with interrupted pale belts. 



Vol. XXXIII. 



This is found in divers parts of America. The larra of thi» 

 fpecies is tailed and glabrous, cinereous on the back, with a 

 broad brown ftreak before ; ocellate in the middle, and end- 

 ing in a black fpot ; pupa brown, with rufous rings and 

 ftreaks. 



JatropiIjE. Wings (lightly indented ; lower one black, 

 with a rufous bafe and hyaline band ; the head is two- 

 horned. The larva is green, with a monihform tail ; the 

 pupa is brown, with an inflefted cylindrical tail. 



* Atropos. The wings of the infefts of this fpecies are 

 entire ; the lower ones are yellow, with two brown bands ; 

 the abdomen is yellow, virith belts. This is faid to be the 

 largeft and moft remarkable, if not the moft beautiful, Euro- 

 pean infed of this genus. It is thus defcribed by Dr. Shaw : 

 the upper wings are of a fine dark grey colour, with a few 

 flight variations of dull orange and white ; the under wings 

 are of a bright orange colour, marked by a pair of tranfverfe 

 black bands ; the body is alfo orange-coloured, with the fides 

 marked by black bars, while along the top of the back, from 

 the thorax to the tail, runs a broad blue-grey llripe ; on the 

 top of the thorax is a very large patch of a moft fingular 

 appearance, exactly reprefenting the ufual figure of a Scull, 

 or death's head, and is of a pale grey, varied with dull ochrs 

 and black. When in the leaft difturbed or irritated, this 

 infeft emits a ftridulous iound, fomething like the fqueak- 

 ing of a moufe ; and from this circumftance, as well as from 

 the mark above-mentioned on the thorax, it is held in much 

 dread by the vulgar in feveral parts of Europe, its appear- 

 ance being regarded as a kind of ill omen or harbinger of 

 approaching fate. Reaumur mentions, that the members of 

 a female convent in France were thrown into great confter- 

 nation at the appearance of one of thefe infefts, which hap- 

 pened to fly in during the evening at one of the windows of 

 the dormitory. The caterpillar from which this curious 

 fphinx proceeds, is in the higheft degree beautiful, and far 

 furpafles in fize every other European infeft of the kind, 

 meafuring fometimes nearly five inches in length, and being 

 of a proportional thicknefs ; its colour is a bright yellow ; 

 the fides are marked with a row of feven moft elegant broad 

 ftripes or bands, of a mixed violet and Iky-blue colour ; the 

 tops of thefe bands meet on the back in fo many angles, and 

 are varied on that part with jet black fpecks ; on the laft joint 

 of the body is a horn orprocefs, not in an ereft pofition, but 

 hanging or curving over the joint in the manner of a tail, 

 having a rough furface and a yellow colour. This caterpillar 

 is principally found on the potatoe and the jeffamine, which 

 are its favourite food. It changes into a chryfalis in the 

 month of September, retiring for that purpofe deep in the 

 earth ; the perfcft infeft emerging in the following June or 

 July. Individuals have been oblerved to change into the 

 chryfalis in July or Auguft, and then produce the complete 

 infeft in November, fo that there appear to be two broods 

 or races in a year. 



The S. atropos is generally confidered as a rare infeft, and 

 as the caterpillar feeds chiefly by night, concealing itfelf 

 during the day under leaves, &c. it is not often detefted ; 

 yet from fome fingular circumftances favourable to its breed, 

 there are fe.ifons in which it is even plentiful, as was the cafe 

 in the autumn of 1 804, in which the caterpillar was fo 

 common in fome counties, as to be prejudicial to the po- 

 tatoe-plantb, particularly in fome parts of Cornwall and 

 Surry. 



" The alteration of form which the whole of the papilio- 

 naceous tribe undergo, and in a particular manner the changed 

 of the fphinx genus, aflord a fubjcft of the moft pleafing 

 contemplation to the mind of the naturalift, and though a 

 deeply philofophical furvey demonllratcs that there is no 

 3 U rf»l 



