26 



POPULAR PAPERS ON ENTOMOLOGY. 



SMERINTHTJS EXJECATUS AND MYOPS. 



BY W. SAUNDERS, LONDON, ONT. 



Among the most beautiful of all the night-flying moths may be placed those belonging; 

 to the genus Smerinthus, one of the genera included in the SjjJdngidce, or Sphinx moths, 

 a name derived from a fancied resemblance some of the caterpillars bear in certain atti- 

 tudes to the famous Egyptian Sphinx. This family comprises some of the most robust 

 and powerful among moths. Dr. Harris thus speaks of them : " In the winged state the 

 true Sphinges are known by the name of Humming-bird Moths, from the sound which 

 they make in flying, and Hawk Moths from their habit of hovering in the air while taking 

 their food. These Humming-bird or Hawk Moths may be seen during the morning and 

 evening twilight flying with great swiftness from flower to flower. Their wings are long, 

 narrow and pointed, and are moved by powerful muscles. Their tongues when uncoiled 

 are for the most part excessively long, and with them they extract the honey from the 

 blossoms of the honeysuckle and other tubular flowers while on the wing." 



The Blind-eyed Sphinx, Smerinthus excecatus, which is well shown in Fig. 1, is a 

 lovely creature which measures when its wings are spread nearly three inches across. Its 



body is fawn coloured, with a chest- 

 nut coloured stripe on the thorax 

 and a dark brown line on the abdo- 

 men. The front wings are fawn 

 coloured, clouded and striped with 

 a rich velvety brown. The hind 

 wings are rose coloured in the 

 middle, crossed by two or three 

 short whitish lines, having a brown- 

 ish patch at the tip and a black 

 spot with a pale blue centre near 

 the inner angle. The moth is on 

 the wing in June and July j the 

 eggs are laid on apple, plum and 

 wild cherry trees, and the larva, 

 Fig. 2, becomes full grown in Sep- 

 tember. It then measures about two and a half inches long, has a green triangular head bor- 

 dered with white, and an apple green body, paler on the back, deeper in colour along the 

 sides, with seven oblique stripes on each side of a pale yellow colour, the last one, of a brighter 

 yellow than the others, extending to the base of the 

 horn. The skin of the body is roughened with 

 numerous white-tipped granulations, and the stout 

 horn on the hinder part of the body is of a bluish 

 green colour. This larva when irritated emits a 

 peculiar musical chirping sound. 



When full grown it buries itself in the earth, 

 where it changes to a chestnut brown chrysalis, 

 which is smooth, with a short, rough terminal 

 spine, in this condition it remains during the 

 winter, escaping a^ a moth early the following summer. 



