1 18 BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 



ingly airaid of it. He writes : " Their terror of the insect was most 

 amusing, and was an eloquent testimony to the great value of this 

 form of colouring to so bulky a larva. I do not think that anyone 

 could now argue that the theory of terrifying coloration is farfetched, 

 as I have heard contended. The snake-like appearance seems capable 

 of deceiving more intelligent animals than baboons," &c. 



Hippotion celerio, Linne. 



Synonymy. — Species: Celerio, Linn., " Sys. Nat.," xth ed., p. 491 (1758); 

 xiith ed., p. 800 (1767), &c. [Note. — All references in the generic synonymy 

 (antea, pp. 11 6- 1 17) are referable to the specific name celerio, except 'the following: 

 Tisiphone, Linn., "Sys. Nat.," xth ed., p. 492 (1758) ; xiith ed., p. 803 (1767); 

 " Mus. Ludov. Ulric," p. 359 (1764). Ocys, Hb., " Verz.," p. 135 (circ. 1822). 

 Albolineata, Montr., "Ann. Soc. Linn. Lyon," (2,) xi., p. 250 (1864).] 



Original description. — Sphinx celerio, alis integris griseis 

 lineola albo nigra ; inferioribus basi rubris maculis sex. Goed., 

 Ins., 3, f. 7. Frisch, Ins., 13, t. 1, f. 2. List., Goed., f. 26. Roes., 

 Ins., 4, t. 8. Habitat in Vite (Linne, Sys. Nat., xth ed., p. 491). 



Imago. — 78mm. Anterior wings brown ; a wide curved silvery- 

 white or ochreous fascia from the apex to the inner margin near 

 the base, edged internally with blackish, and with two slender 

 darker lines running almost medially throughout its length ; a num- 

 ber of short longitudinal darker and paler dashes between the fascia 

 and costa ; a faint silvery wedge at base medially ; the pale 

 raised nervures pass distinctly through the fascia, and are superiorly 

 edged finely with blackish ; a minute black discoidal spot ; a fine 

 subterminal silvery line, edged with darker towards the anal angle ; 

 the inner marginal edge also silvery ; cilia brownish. Posterior 

 wings rosy, paler (pink) towards the outer margin ; dusted with 

 black scales towards apex ; a median black band from costa not 

 reaching inner margin; a fine black submarginal band; nervures 

 black, joining the median and submarginal bands ; cilia white, 

 suffused towards apex. 



Sexual dimorphism. — The g s appear to be rather larger than 

 the 2 s, and to be longer in the body ; a 2 without eggs is, however, 

 very similar in outline, if a little shorter. The $ has the larger 

 head, measuring about romm, more across the eye at widest part, 

 than the $. The $ antenna is about n^mm. long, that of the 2 

 io'5mm. Owing to the $ antennae being armed with the Sphingid 

 hair cups, it looks larger than that of the 2 to an extent greater 

 than it really is. In both sexes the number of joints appears to be 

 about the same, viz., about 63. Each has three rows of scales 

 to a joint, of which the third is very short and hardly seen. The $ s 

 have a well developed fan of (scent?) hairs in a pocket at each 

 side of the basal abdominal segment. The anterior tibial spurs 

 are larger in the S than in the 2 • This corresponds in some 

 degree to the fact that the tibia itself is shorter in the 2 than 

 in the $ . The smallest male tibia measured was over 4mm. 

 long ; no 2 quite reached this, whilst in the 2 they varied 

 down to 3*4mm. The spurs of two specimens measured (taken 

 at random, but possibly a little exaggerating the difference) were 

 $ 2 # 2mm., 2 1 "82111111. There is a still greater difference in 

 the size and length of the comb, which occupies two-thirds of 

 the length of the $ spur, and is 0-28111111. wide, is barely 



