34 « death's head sphinx. 



The celebrated Reaumur infonns us, that the 

 members of a female convent in France were thrown 

 into great consternation at the appearance of one of 

 these insects, which happened to fly in during the 

 evening at one of the windows of the dormitory. 



" The caterpillar from which this curious Sphinx 

 proceeds is in the highest degree beautiful, and far 

 surpasses in size every other European insect of the 

 kind, measuring sometimes near five inches in length, 

 and being of a very considerable thickness : its colour 

 is bright yellow, and the sides marked by a row of 

 seven most elegant broad stripes, or bands, of a vivid 

 violet and sky-blue colour ; the tops of these bands 

 meet on the back in so many angles, and are varied 

 on that part with jet black specks ; on the last joint 

 of the body is a horn, or process, not in an erect 

 position, but hanging or curving over the joint in the 

 manner of a tail, having a rough or muricated surface, 

 and of a yellow colour. This caterpillar is principally 

 found on the potato and jessamine, those plants being 

 its favourite food. It usually changes into a chrysalis 

 in the month of September, retiring for that purpose 

 pretty deep under the surface of the earth, the 

 complete insect emerging in the following June or 

 July ; but some individuals are observed to change 

 into a chrysalis in July or August ; and these pro- 

 duce the complete insect in November; so that 

 there appear to be two broods or annual races." 



The Death's Head Sphinx is generally considered 



