SPHINGIDES. 357 



The work of Curtis, Stainton and Newman, does not really 

 touch the classification of the superfamily, and no real alteration 

 in the early genera was made either at home or abroad until, in 

 1865, Grote and Robinson published their " Syn. Cat. of North 

 American Sphingidae " {Proc. Ent. Soc. Phil., v., pp. 149 et 

 seq.), and divided the Sphingidae into the tribes Macrogiossini, 

 Choerocanpini, Smerinthini and Sphingini. In 1876, Butler 

 brought out his Monograph of the Sphingidae. Here we find 

 another attempt to raise the Sphingids practically to superfamily 

 rank, and to subdivide them into important sections, based on 

 larval and imaginal structure. The Sphinx of the older authors 

 is divided into Choerocampinae, Acherontiinae and Sphinginae, the genus 

 Smerinthus is subdivided into Snierinthinae and Ambnlicinae, whilst 

 Macroglossum is raised to Macroglossinae. His diagnoses, poor as 

 they are, show a better appreciation of the material to be considered 

 than do those of his predecessors, and read as follows : 



Macroglossinae. — Larva : with the anterior segments tapering towards the 

 head, retractile ; horn long and curved, head rather small. Imago : generally with 

 externally angulated palpi ; the antennae often gradually thicker from the base to the 

 apex ; thorax large and prominent ; abdomen of the male always with a more or less 

 developed anal tuft of hair-scales. 



Chcerocampin^e. — Larva : with the anterior segments retractile, the fifth some- 

 what abruptly broader ; the fifth and sometimes all the segments laterally ocellated ; 

 horn variable ; head rather larger. Imago : generally with externally rounded palpi, 

 the antennae generally rather slender ; eyes salient ; thorax large and prominent ; 

 abdomen without an anal tuft. 



Ambulicin^e. — Larva : with the anterior segments non-retractile, tapering 

 slightly towards the head, which is abruptly rather large and rounded ; horn oblique, 

 not curved, but slightly pointing upwards at the tip; a series of lateral oblique 

 stripes. Imago : with externally rounded palpi, the antennae slender in both sexes ; 

 eyes salient ; thorax rather short ; abdomen of the male produced behind, with lateral 

 angular expansion. 



Smerinthini. — Larva : rugose, with the anterior segments tapering towards 

 the head, which is abruptly and decidedly laiger, flattened in front, and angular 

 above ; horn straight. Imago : with the head and thorax short and broad ; palpi 

 small ; antennae of male more or less pectinated. 



Acherontiin/E. — Larva : thick, clumsy, Sphinx-like, but with the horn 

 always more or less recurved at the tip, and tuberculated or granulose. Imago : 

 clumsy ; legs, antennae, and proboscis thick, the latter very short ; head, thorax, and 

 abdomen short and broad. 



Sphinginae. — Larva : with the anterior segments very slightly smaller than 

 the posterior, generally marked with oblique lateral stripes ; horn (when present) 

 rather long; head tolerably large ; position of the larva in repose almost sigmoidal. 

 Pupa : frequently with an external sheath for the proboscis. Imago : Chcerocampine 

 in form, but with the head generally smaller ; the thorax variable in length ; proboscis 

 very long. 



Herrich-Schaffer, however, in 1845, na -d published {Schmett. von 

 Europa, vol. ii., p. 82) an account of the Sphingids, and had given a very 

 satisfactory diagnosis of the superfamily, which reads as follows : 



Imago : Quite large to fairly small, strongly built lepidoptera, with elongated 

 forewings, with the outer margin slightly shorter than the inner margin ; hind- 

 wings small. No ocelli, palpi three-jointed, heavily clothed with hair, lying close 

 to the head, with inner surfaces hollowed out, in which lies the proboscis, 

 externally convex, the second joint thicker than ba^al and the third extremely 

 small, only slightly discernible above the hair of the second joint, frequently 

 almost entirely enveloped in hair; the antennae somewhat more slender near the 

 base and at the tip, the thickening terminating in an angle which, viewed beneath, 

 has a central longitudinal ridge ; in the male this bears two rows of bristles on 

 each of the surfaces forming the middle ridge, the one at the front margin, the 

 other at the hind margin, which two rows unite together towards the outer 



