PLATE CCLXXXIX. 



Reaum. Inf. 1. tab. 14. 



Reef. In/. 3. tab. 1.1. 



Hafftlquijl. lt'tn. 407. 104. 105. 



Schaf. Icon. tab. 99. fig. 1. 2. 



i%. Inf. 2. tab. 7. 



Sulz. Inf. tab. 15. fig. 88. 



^/£/ff. /«/". /«£. 6. 



/F/Z£x. pap. 9. to3. 1. 5. 1. 



The Sphinx Atropos is a magnificent fpecies, and is the largefl of 

 the European infects of its tribe. The characterise marks of this 

 creature are lingular, and that on the thorax more efpecially, as it bears 

 a very flrong refemblance to the figure of a human fkull. The latter 

 indeed is fo forcibly depicted, that the occafional appearance of a 

 brood of thefe infects, in fome parts of the country, has not un fre- 

 quently been deemed by the uninformed a prefage of approaching 

 calamity. Linnaeus adverts to this ominous character in naming it 

 Atropos, after one of the three fates of the heathen mythology. 



This fpecies was formerly efteemed very fcarce in Britain, and a 

 fpecimen in our pofleffion, bred from a larva found in England, was 

 once efteemed a confiderable rarity. It has, however, during the 

 years 1808 and 1809, occurred in plenty in the larvae flate, though, 

 from the extreme care required to rear them, few of the perfect in- 

 fers have been produced. The greater number of the larvae above- 

 mentioned were dug up in the gardeners' grounds in the vicinity of 

 London. 



PLATE 



