MANDUCA ATROPOS. 405 



those he reared not only fed at all times of the day, but more by day, 

 than by night. He adds that the larvae are very sluggish, sitting with 

 the venter firmly pressed against the stem of the foodplant, simply 

 extending the head and neck to feed, which they will do in all possible 

 positions. They select the finest leaves, and readily eat the tenderest 

 stalks. A mere touch or breath will make them withdraw their heads 

 and remain motionless, and, though they dislike wind, they enjoy the sun. 

 He says he once observed a duel which lasted two minutes, each larva 

 trying to get hold of the neck of the other, that being the weakest part, 

 whilst Goeze had already asserted that, if the larvae came 

 across each other, they plainly hiss and mutually bite one another. 

 Haworth remarked, in 1803 (Lep. Brit.), upon the skill with which 

 the larvae concealed themselves by day on those parts of the 

 stems which are best covered with overshadowing leaves, and 

 it is really remarkable how well the large full-fed larvae hide 

 themselves, clinging as they almost invariably do, to the underside 

 of the stalk back downward, so that the eye might pass over 

 scores of them without observing them, notwithstanding their 

 size and colouring. Morres observes {Notes on Acherontia atropos, 

 p. 5) that one caterpillar was found by noticing a leaf slightly in 

 motion while all around was still, closer examination showing the disc 

 of the caterpillar's face as it was greedily munching its mid-day meal, 

 although the rest of the larva was quite hidden ; another was discovered 

 by noticing the haulm of a potato-plant much eaten, and then 

 instituting a close search ; a third was observed clinging to a 

 naked stalk of the haulm in the Sphinx-like attitude, quite motion- 

 less, &c. He further observes that the yellow, green and 

 brown of these enormous caterpillars match strikingly with 

 the three growths of the potato-leaves themselves — the bright 

 green of the earlier foliage, the yellower tint of the later leaf, 

 and the diseased or decaying foliage (which the brown larva 

 matches so exactly that the untrained eye would never detect it) — 

 whilst the stripes of the larva amalgamate most wondrously with 

 the lateral ribs of the potato-leaf. This is remarkable as the potato 

 (an introduced plant) cannot have been the original foodplant of 

 the species which is unknown in America whence comes the potato- 

 plant. Leech also notes (Ent., xxix., p. 316) that the coloration 

 of the larva closely resembles that of its foodplant, which renders 

 it far from a conspicuous object when at rest on a potato-stem ; 

 he notes one example which, when about to pupate, assumed a yellow 

 coloration exactly like that of a withered leaf. Mathew writes (op. 

 cit., 1901, p. 281) that the larvae are not difficult to find, for, 

 by walking slowly between the rows of potatoes, one could see 

 where the larvae had been feeding, as the haulms, in many instances, 

 were nearly stripped, and the larvae were usually to be found upon 

 the underside of one of the lower leaves ; where the plants were not 

 of luxuriant growth the larva was easy to see some distance off, and 

 one was detected nearly a hundred yards away as it rested on a bare 

 stem, where it looked very conspicuous in the rays of the setting sun. 

 Thorpe says (Ent., v., p. 143) that the larvae are best found between 

 4 a.m. and 9 a.m., as they are, at this time, more exposed than later, 

 e.g., at mid-day. Bartel writes (Pal. Gross-Schmett., ii., p. 19) that 

 " the larvae are best found by searching potato-fields, where the traces 



