108 ACHERONTIA ATROPOS. 



For pupation the larva goes down eight or ten inches 

 into the earth and there makes an oval chamber very 

 much larger than the enclosed pupa. I have two pupae, 

 one is 60 mm. and the other 70 mm. in length ; the 

 figure is somewhat elongated, fairly cylindrical, the 

 head and eyes rather projecting, the outline of the back 

 sloping up gently to the thorax, and then going nearly 

 on a level, except the segmental folds, to the third 

 segment from the tail, whence there is a rapid slope ; 

 on the under side the thorax is somewhat hollowed out 

 and the wing-cases swell out a little. The segments 

 of the abdomen are well marked ; the tail ends in a large, 

 thick, flattish rough spike, with two very short stout 

 spines ; the skin is glossy, but somewhat shagreened 

 on the back at the segmental divisions, and there 

 are two very rough pear-shaped spots between the 

 thorax and abdomen ; the colour rich mahogany brown, 

 clouded in places with darker brown. 



These notes are very scanty. Atropos, however, is 

 the subject of a large amount of published observations 

 by a great many entomologists. (J. H., 29, 10, 86.) 



Sphinx convolvult. 



Plate XXI, fig. 2; Plate XXII, fig. 1 (see ante, p. 22). 



One or two points mentioned in some notes on this 

 species, which were published in ' Ent. Month. Mag.,' 

 vol. v, p. 160, are, I think, of sufficient interest to be 

 reproduced here, especially as they have some bearing 

 on its occurrence in England. Those notes were 

 founded chiefly on the observations of my friend Mr. 

 H. Dorville, of Alphington, near Exeter. Iu 1868, 

 between August 15th and September 28th, he captured 

 twenty-seven males and twenty-nine females of the 

 moth ; about the middle of August he cut open a 

 battered female, and found in her 220 well -formed 

 eggs. On August 21st he opened another, and found 



