408 BRITISH LEPIDOPTERA. 



asserts (Notes on Acherontia atropos, p. 1 9) that the sound made by the 

 larva is not so loud a squeak, but precisely the same sound as is 

 made by the moth ; he only once heard it, and could scarcely believe 

 his ears on hearing it. He appears to be almost the only observer 

 who considers the sound similar to that made by the imago, except 

 Kleemann (Rosel's Insecten-Belustigung, in., p. 12), who also asserts 

 that the noise made is exactly like that produced by the imago, but 

 fainter. Anderson, on the other hand, confirms Hiibner's observation, 

 and asserts {Ent.Rec., vii., p. 40) that the sound emitted resembles the 

 " click" of an electric spark, and is quite distinct from the " squeak" of 

 the moth. Swinton notes (E.M.M., xiii., p. 220) that the crepitation, 

 peculiar to Manduca, has been well attested, e.g., Scopoli, Ent. Cam., 

 p. 185 ; Meigen, Syst. Beschr., ii., p. 147 ; Weatherhead, Zoologist, 1858, 

 pp. 6212, 6282, &c ; Proc. Ent. Soc. Lo?id., iv., p. 157, &c. In spite of 

 the observations of Capronnier, Poulton and Aigner-Abafi (suprd), 

 Lambillion asserts {Ent. Rcc., xii., p. 295) that the larval cry comes 

 from the buccal organs of the insect and that the larva seems to open 

 its mouth each time the cry is heard, that it is only produced by the 

 rubbing of one organ against another, he adds, is a view that is scarcely 

 admissible. There seems, however, no reason to doubt the conclusion 

 of Capronnier, Poulton and Aigner-Abafi, i.e., that the sound proceeds 

 from the mandibles. When fullfed, the larvae begin to change colour, 

 and grow very restless, becoming semi-transparent, golden-yellow, and 

 looking as though they had been soaked in oil (Burrows), and crawling 

 continuously until they find a suitable place for pupation. Bowles 

 also notes (Ent. Rec., ix., p. 42) that, of a dozen larva? of M. afropos, 

 brought him in 1896, all were of the green form, turning to golden- 

 yellow when quite fullfed. The larvae will rarely go down into the 

 earth in the breeding-cage in which they have been kept in con- 

 finement, for pupation, and should be placed separately in a large 

 flower-pot filled with fresh damp earth with about 1 inch of room to 

 spare between the surface of the soil and the top of the pot, into 

 which, if the pot be covered, they will, as a rule, bury directly (Morres). 

 Aigner-Abafi says (Illus. Zeits. fur Ent., iv., p. 178) that the 

 larvae only occur in one generation in Germany, and may be found 

 from July to September, that, in southern France, there are two 

 appearances, in July and September, whilst in the Italian Riviera, near 

 San Remo, one finds them almost continually from July to the middle 

 of December, and rarely even examples a,re found at the commencement 

 of January. In Hungary, also, there are two generations, one in June 

 and July, principally on potato, the other from the end of August to 

 the end of October, i.e., to the commencement of the frosts, chiefly 

 on Lycium; the first brood, he says, is much the rarer, but, in some years, 

 in September and October, the larvae are very common, e.g., 1865, 1878, 

 1886 and 1892, rather less so in 1897, when the first fullfed examples 

 were taken on September 12th, but were abundant on October 3rd, 

 and October 4th, when some larvae were still very small, others quite 

 ready for pupation, &c. As evidence to show how bad weather 

 tends to kill off autumnal Jarvae of this species in central Europe, Aigner- 

 Abafi recounts how, in October, 1 S 9 7 , a period of cold rainy weather set 

 in after October 4th ; he states that it lasted 8 days, and caused larvae, 

 kept exposed on a window-sill with a plentiful supply of food, to become 

 quite torpid, and he adds that he had to remove them indoors before they 



