318 LEPIDOPTERA. 



Hesperia Wamsutta. Wamsutta Skipper. (Fig. 141.) 



Dark brown above ; fore wings with a broken row of 



small tawny spots towards the tip, and in the males a large 



tawny patch covering the whole of the fore part of the wings 



Fig. 141. from the base to the middle, and an 



^i>^ oblique curved black line behind it ; 



® lUs w mn( ^- wm g s with a small tawny clot 



$m BsBBf De f° re the middle, and an indented 



^QP g H^ tawny band, or row of contiguous 



unequal spots ; under side of the fore wings light brown, 



and with larger yellow spots than on the other side, hind 



wings light. brown, with two large irregular bright yellow 



spots connected in the middle and covering nearly the 



whole surface. 



Expands from T 9 <y of an inch to nearly an inch. 

 This species hardly differs from Peck's skipper, except 

 in being uniformly smaller. It is a very common kind, 

 and is found in meadows in the latter part of summer, 

 particularly through the month of August. Wamsutta, 

 whose name I have given it, was the oldest son of the 

 Sachem Massasoit. 



There are a few more skippers in my collection, which 

 were taken in Massachusetts, but some of them are not suffi- 

 ciently perfect to be described, and of the others I have 

 only one sex. 



II. HAWK-MOTHS. {Sphinges*) 



Linnaaus was led to give the name of Sphinx to the 

 insects in his second group of the Lepidoptera, from a 

 fancied resemblance that some of their caterpillars, when at 

 rest, have to the Sphinx of the Egyptians. The attitude 

 of these caterpillars is indeed very remarkable. Supporting 

 themselves by their four or six hind legs, they elevate the 



* See page 262. 



