AGRIUS CONVOLVULI. 331 



Original description. — Sphinx conuolunli, alis integris : posticis 

 albo fasciatis margine postico albo punctatis, abdomine rubro 

 cingulis atris. Merian, Lis., 39, t. 75, f. 2, t. 25. Goed., Ins., 3, t. 

 5. Roes., Ins., i., phal. 1., t. 7. Wilk., Pap., 10, t. 1, B. 2. Habitat 

 in Convolvulo. Thorax antice arcubus 2 nigris. Alae posticae cinereae 

 fasciis 3 fuscis (Linne, Sys. Nat., xth ed., p. 490). [In the xiith ed., 

 p. 798, "posticis albo fasciatis" becomes "posticis nigri fasciatis."] 



Imago. — 63mm. — 125mm. Head and thorax same colour 

 as forewings. Abdomen with broad median grey longitudinal 

 band, enclosing a slender black mediodorsal line ; the sides pink- 

 and black-banded, the black edged with white posteriorly. 

 Anterior wings grey; a double black curved wavy transverse line 

 cutting off the basal third of the wing which is usually somewhat 

 paler than the median area ; beyond the middle is another fine 

 pale sharply-zigzag transverse line edged on either side with 

 black, and sloping very obliquely towards base in its lower half; 

 the median area between these transverse lines darker, especially 

 the upper half; the darker area including two conspicuous long- 

 itudinal linear black streaks which are surrounded by a median 

 fuscous shade directly beneath the paler discoidal spot; the outer 

 marginal area marbled with whiter grey ; a marginal row 

 of interneural arcuate markings pointing outwards, from the middle 

 of which two dark shades run to the fuscous median area ; a 

 conspicuous black apical mark running obliquely to outer transverse 

 line ; fringes latticed with grey, white and black. Posterior wings 

 grey, with basal, double median, and outer, transverse black 

 bands ; the areas between the basal and median and the median and 

 outer bands whitish-grey ; the outer margin slightly slaty-grey ; 

 fringes latticed with dark grey and white. [The frenulum is figured by 

 Van der Hoeven, Bijd. Nat. Wet., ii., pi. hi., fig. 1.] 



Sexual dimorphism. — The ? seems to be rather larger than 

 the cf , my largest specimen being a ? 117mm. in expanse, the 

 largest $ being 111mm., whilst the smallest is a $ , 76mm., the 

 smallest ? being 78mm., the general impression being that there is some 

 such difference of a few millimetres in favour of the 2 • Individual, 

 and still more geographical, variation obscures any difference of 

 form, colour, markings, &c, but the impression is that there are 

 no such differences. The abdomen of the S tapers more regularly, 

 that of the $ maintains its dimensions for 4 or 5 segments before 

 tapering. The antennae differ markedly between the sexes, whilst 

 the actual dimensions differ nearly as much as the specimens in 

 size. A large $ has antennae 20mm. in length, and one with 

 exceptionally long antennae has them 22mm., but, in a good-sized 

 $ , they are usually about 18mm. to 19mm., a very small $ has 

 them 15mm. The $ antennae are much shorter, the average is, perhaps, 

 about 13mm., though a good many reach 14mm., one specimen 

 only just passing 15mm., a very short antenna in small specimens 

 is about 12mm., and one exceptional one n '5mm. The ^antenna 

 is also much more robust, tapering basally for 6 or 7 visible 

 joints and from 8 or 10 distally before the recurved tip, the rest of 

 the antenna (about two-thirds of it) being of uniform thickness ; the $ 

 antenna varies in robustness, but is much more slender than that of 

 the $ , is very slender basally, and thickens gradually but very slightly 



