42 SPHINGID^E. 



V.— SYSTEMATIC SECTION, 

 Family SPHINGID^E. 



Samouelle, Ent. Comp., 1819, p. 243. 



" Imago varying in length of body from 12 to 80 mm., 

 and in length of fore wing from 10 to 90 mm. (Sphingonsepiopsis 

 obscurus and Cocytius antseus). 



" Head. — Tongue varying from being several times as 

 long as the body to being reduced to two small tubercles. 

 Pilifer clothed with bristles or scales, the brush even, or the 

 bristles short at apex, or absent. Genal process naked, 

 mostly triangular, very often reaching to tip of pilifer. 

 Labrum convex in middle, often raised into a rather prominent 

 tubercle. Palpus very variable in size and structure ; first 

 segment with or without patch of sensory hairs on inner 

 surface at base ; inner surface of second segment scaled 

 or partly naked, sometimes excavate ; scaling at apex of 

 first segment externally sometimes forming a kind of cavity ; 

 third segment mostly short, always shorter than second, 

 broad, naked and conical if very prominent. Eye variable 

 in size, naked ; no ocelli. Scaling of head often raised to 

 a crest, especially in forms with reduced head. Antenna 

 filiform, setiform, or clavate, prismatically compressed or 

 cylindrical, tapering at end, and mostly curved to a hook, 

 sometimes pectinate ; end-segment long or short, scaled 

 dorsally, the scaling mostly dense and forming often a dorsal 

 tuft projecting distad, or sparse and rough, or almost absent. 

 There are often long bristles on the end- segment, two at end 

 near the tip, and several scattered over the surface of the 

 segment ; the whole dorsal surface of antenna scaled, two 

 rows of scales to each segment, but the rows quite irregular, 

 proximal segments scaled also ventrally in a few cases where 

 the clubbed antenna is very thin basally. Ventral surface 

 densely clothed with fine hairs ; besides, there are some sub- 

 dorsal and lateral sense -bristles, not obvious except on distal 

 segments ; a single ventral mesial sense- cone on each segment, 

 apical or subapical. $ : with one exception (Rhopalopsyche) , 

 the segments impressed at the sides and provided basally, 

 dorsally, and apically along the groove with a row of fasci- 

 culate long hairs, the proximal row of hairs of either side 

 continuous ventrally, but the hairs always shorter in and 

 near the ventral mesial line, the distal row seldom extended 

 to the mesial line. Sometimes the dorsal edge of the groove 

 widened laterad to a process which bears the fasciculate 

 hairs on the underside at the edges .... 2 : without 

 fasciculate hairs as a rule ; however, there are many forms 



