b SPHINGID^]. 



then bends sharply forwards again, venter against venter, 

 to the head and under it, the horn continuing in the line 

 of the body, but often not visible from the outside. The shell 

 is thick and opaque in some species, translucent in others, 

 and as the larva develops it is absorbed to some extent from 

 the inside, till, just before the emergence of the caterpillar, 

 it is nearly transparent. The axial line of the developing 

 caterpillar becomes visible first ; the eyes appear as minute 

 dots before the outline of the head is visible, and they become 

 darker and finally black ; the dark tips of the mandibles 

 are the first part to show any movement, opening and closing 

 for quite a long time before they commence to bite their 

 way through the shell. 



Larva (fig. 1). 



The sphingid larva is subcylindrical in shape when full-fed , 

 tapering forwards slightly from segment 7 or sharply from 5. 

 In the former case the head is usually large and in the latter 

 small. These are, broadly speaking, the two types of larva, 

 the former being common among the Asemanophorse and the 

 latter among the Semanophorsz. There are three pairs of 

 true legs, one pair on each of segments 2, 3 and 4, a pair 

 of prolegs on each of segments 7 to 10, and a pair of claspers 

 on 14. There is a spiracle on each side of 2 and on 5 to 12. 

 Whilst so far agreeing with many other lepidopterous larvae, 

 it is further characterized by the possession of a horn on the 

 dorsum of segment 12. This horn is chitinized in the last 

 instar and is present in all Indian species, though some- 

 times much reduced. A horn similar to that of the Sphin- 

 gid^: is found in a few species of Notodontid^. 



The head (fig. 2) consists of two lobes, together with the 

 mouth-parts, and varies considerably in shape, not only 

 generically and specifically but individually in different instars. 

 It is invariably rounded in the first instar, and may remain 

 so until the last instar, but in some genera it becomes 

 triangular in the second instar ; it may remain triangular or 

 become rounded again in the last instar. The vertex is some- 

 times more or less conical, and a long process may arise from 

 the apex of each lobe of the head in the second instar ; these 

 processes usually become shorter in proportion to the length 

 of the head in succeeding instars, and are often represented 

 in the final instar by a tubercle at the apex of each lobe. 

 The two processes are closely appressed till near the tips, 

 where they diverge shortly. The triangular shaped head 

 characterizes the subfamily Ambulicin^e, and is never found 

 in the tribe Acherontiini (though appearing again in the 

 genus Dolbina of the tribe Sphingulini) , nor in the subfamilies 

 Ch^rocampiNjE and Philampelin^: ; but it occurs again 



