4 HAWK-MOTHS OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK CITY 



caterpillar hatches in from five to seven days after the eggs have 

 been deposited. The caterpillars as a rule shed their skins or 

 moult five times before reaching maturity. The mature cater- 

 pillars are smooth, or sometimes more or less granulated over the 

 surface. The last segment is provided with a horn, or marked 

 with a tubercle or polished eye-like spot instead. Most of the 

 Hawk-Moth caterpillars are marked with seven lateral, oblique 

 stripes. After reaching maturity, and when ready to transform, 

 they descend from their food-plants to the ground. Most forms 

 burrow into the soil, where they construct cells, in which they 

 change to pupae, but some species form their pupae on the surface 

 of the ground, in a loose, web-like cocoon between leaves. The 

 pupae are almost always chestnut brown, elongate, with the 

 tongue-case either buried or detached and resembling the handle 

 of a pitcher. 



KEY TO THE HAWK-MOTHS. 



Wings partly transparent Group A. 



Wings wholly opaque " B. 



With yellow markings on body Section i. 



With yellow markings on hind wings " 2. 



With green and pink markings on wings 3 . 



With green markings on wings, without pink ... 4. 



With pink markings on wings, without green. . . 5. 



With brown markings, without pink, green or 

 yellow 



With gray or blackish brown markings, without 

 pink, yellow or green 



7- 



Group A.— WINGS PARTLY TRANSPARENT. 



Underside of thorax pale yellow without a line on each side. 



Outer border of fore wings toothed within .... Hemaris thy she. 



Like thy she, but larger var. floridensis. 



Outer border of fore wings not toothed within . . . var. ruficaudis. 

 Underside of thorax pale yellow with a red-brown line on each side. 



Outer border of fore wings even within Hemaris gracilis. 



