216 ORDER LEPIDOPTERA. 



Chbysophanus phlf-as. Copper Butterfly. (Plato xlvi, tig. 4.) 



r oopper-red above. Forewings margined with Mack : area of the disc marked with 

 six or seven oblong black spots. Bindwings, disc and base dusk] black : posterior 

 margin r,J. trimmed with about >i\ black spots, and furnished with short tails. Ee- 

 ra : Forewings, the disc is orange or cupreous orange, spotted with, black, and 

 margined with ash. Hindwings, base and disc ash, spotted or dotted with Mack, and 

 bordered with bint copper-red. 

 I maion at ruidsuninier in the vicinity of Albany and Western Massachusetts. 



Hesperia peckius ( Kirby). no. (Plate xxxii, fig. 8.^ 



t brown, paler beneath. Both pair of wings widely 1. ordered with brown : ana of the 

 discs bright yellow, with a band of brown extending outwards from the base, ciliate; 

 cilia 1 Gascons. Beneath, the area of the discs is occupied with yellow patches, ir- 

 regular in form ; that upon the hindwing is usually double. The body is clothed with 

 long yellowish brown hairs, esp< cially upon the bn -: . 

 There i< considerable diversity in the form or shaj e of the yellow patches on the discs : 

 in some, the whole area of the disc of the forewings is yellow. It is very probable, how- 

 ever, that this may prove a species distinct from the p< ch ins. The latter is common in fields 

 in Western Massachusetts and Eastern New-York, in July. 



Sphingidae. 



HAWKMOTHS. 



This family of Lepidoptera has received the special attention of naturalists from Lixxjeus 

 down to the present time. They fly with great strength and vigor, with a bird-like motion 

 of their wings ; and are capable of sustaining their lliidit for a long time, and of poi- _ 

 themselves in the air like the hummingbird while sucking the Q< ctar of flowers. The 

 tongue is coiled compactly when not in use, and frequently exceeds the body in length. 

 The antenna? are prismatic, presenting in a cross section the segment of a circle on one 

 side, while others are formed by two curved lines meeting in such a way as to make an 

 ■ _-• on the opposite side : it often terminates in a feather-like tuft. The labial palpi are 

 broad and compressed ; but the labrum and mandibles are rudimentary, as they are not 

 required for taking food. 



The larva? are naked, cylindrical, and supplied with sixteen feet, and ordinarily a horn 

 i^ placed on the eleventh segment of the body : they are commonly ornamented with 

 oblique stripes on the sides. They usually descend into the earth when their transformation 



