40 MOTHS 



PLATE XXII 



THE PRIVET HAWK (i and 2) 



Wherever privet bushes grow you may expect 

 to find this handsome insect, which is sometimes 

 very nearly as large as the " death's head." One 

 does not very often see the perfect moth, however, 

 for it only flies by night, and contrives to hide 

 itself away in some secure retreat during the 

 hours of daylight. But sometimes you may see 

 it at dusk hovering in front of petunia blossoms, 

 and sucking up their sweet juices through its 

 long slender trunk. You may find the caterpillar, 

 however, in almost every garden if you look for 

 it during August or the early part of September. 

 It is a most beautiful creature, of the brightest 

 apple-green colour, with seven purple stripes 

 on either side, each of which is edged with yellow 

 below. And on its tail is a glossy black horn 

 with a yellow base. It feeds chiefly on the leaves 

 of privet, but you may sometimes find it on those 

 of lilac and elder. When it reaches its full size 

 it buries itself in the ground and turns into a 

 big reddish-brown chrysalis, from which the moth 

 hatches out about midsummer in the following 

 year. 



