SPHENGINI. 67 



Trib3 SPHINGINI Grote & Rob. 



Sphingini, Grote & Robinson, 1865, p. 161. 



Sphingicse, Roths. & Jord., 1903, p. 27 ; id., 1907, p. 9 ; Jordan, 

 1911, p. 233. 



Imago. — " <£$. Tongue varying from being many times as 

 long as the body to being very short. End-segment of antenna 

 always long, rough, with dispersed long scales and bristles, 

 reduced in length in Oliographa. Second segment of palpus 

 on inner side normally scaled, not sunken or only slightly 

 concave, in Psilogramma with a naked streak ; third segment 

 in some of the otherwise more generalized genera long and 

 prominent ; palpus small and rough-scaled in many of the 

 specialized genera. Size of head and eyes very variable ; 

 the latter generally lashed in the reduced forms, and the head 

 often crested. Pilifer normal, or the bristles modified into scales. 

 Spinosity of abdomen varying ; the spines very weak in the 

 specialized genera, seldom absent ; there are always more rows 

 than one to each segment ; the spines of the sternites always 

 much weaker than those of the tergites. Tibiae simple or 

 spinose, fore tibia often ending in a thorn ; proximal pair of 

 spurs of hind tibia present or absent ; mid- and hind tarsus 

 with comb or without ; the bristles of the comb very long 

 in the generalized forms ; fore tibia not rarely reduced in 

 length and then armed with stout and long spines externally ; 

 pulvillus and paronychium present or absent, the pulvillus 

 disappearing before the paronychium, there being no species 

 with pulvillus and without paronychium, the order in which 

 these organs become obsolete being as follows : ventral lobes 

 of paronychium, pulvillus, lateral lobes of paronychium. 



" £. Some of the lower (= generalized) genera have a 

 strongly developed procoxal scent-organ, a friction-patch on 

 clasper, and a mesially divided tenth segment, or one of 

 these characters ; the last two characters occurring only in 

 Old- World forms, none of the numerous American species 

 possessing a friction-patch, or having the tenth tergite mesially 

 divided. Armature of clasper and penis-sheath very variable ; 

 the armature of the latter, if there is any, consisting of one, 

 seldom two, apical processes, which are rarely dentate. 



" $. Antenna in many cases with traces of the fasciculate 

 cilia found in the <£, and more often incrassate distally than 

 in the £. Vaginal plate often rather large, and mostly 

 provided with some kind of armature." (Roths. & Jord., 

 1903, p. 27). 



Egg. — Spherical or ovoid in shape ; surface smooth and 

 shining ; colour green, yellow or brownish-yellow. 



Larva. — Nearly cylindrical in shape ; head round or semi- 

 elliptical ; horn well developed, usually straight ; tubercles 

 present on segments 2 to 4, and on horn, anal flap and claspers ; 



f2 



