310 THE YOUNG 



This genus contains three British species, 

 all very rare and of extremely irregular 

 occurrence. The following tabulation of 

 them may help to name a single species, 

 should any reader be fortunate enough to 

 meet with one : — 



I. — A white band on fore wing from the 



tip to the inner margin near the base. 



A. — The band broad, i, D. euphorbic?. 

 AA. — The band narrow. 



B. — The hind wing with a small rosy 

 patch near the anal angle, 2, D. galii. 



BB. — The hind wing much suffused 

 with rosy ; the veins of fore wings white, 

 3, D. Hneata. 



I. EUPHORBIiE. 



The Spurge Hawk-moth. 



" EuPHORBi.^, L., Euphor'bia, feeds on 

 spurge {Euphorbia Paralias and Cyparissias.)" 

 — A.L. 



Imago, — Fore' wings rosy grey ; an 

 olive green patch at the base, scarcely ex- 

 tending to the inner margin ; another near 

 the centre and close to the costa, and there is 

 often a smaller one nearer the tip ; a trian- 

 gular mark of the same colour, the apex of 

 which reaches the tip, and the base the inner 

 margin, extending from the anal angle to 

 about the middle ; beyond this the hind mar- 

 gin is rosy grey, often darker than the central 

 portion. Hind wings black at the base; 

 then rosy, with a narrow black band from 

 the tip nearly reaching the anal angle, which 

 is white. 



Larva.— Ground colour greenish yel- 

 low or white, covered all over with black 

 reticulations, making it appear to be spotted 

 with the paler hue ; or it may be described 

 as black, with white or greenish yellow spots 

 in rows round the back. At every segment 

 there is one large oval spot on each side of 

 the dorsal line, which is red, and a smaller 

 one below. In younger specimens the dorsal 

 line is sometimes white and sometimes yellow 

 Head red, with two black spots. Hern red 



NATURALIST. 



next the body, with black tip. Spiracular ' 

 line red under each spiracle, which are 

 whitish. Legs black ; pro-legs red. This 

 description is from foreign larvae kindly 

 supplied by G. T. Miller, Esq., of Gates- 

 head-on-Tyne. The figure of this larva in 

 Cassell's " European Butterflies and Moths" 

 is very good, much better than those in 

 Wilson's "Larvae of British Lepidoptera," 

 as compared with the specimens we had. 

 As these may not be in some of our readers' 

 possession we propose to give a figure of it. 



Pupa. — Red brown, with darker reticu- 

 lations, in a loose earthen cocoon. 



Food Plants.— Sea spurge {Euphorbia ^ 

 Paralias), Cypress spurge {E. Cyparissias) 

 (Stainton), also Portland spurge {E. p ft- 

 landica) (Wilson). When the larvae des- 

 cribed reached us they had had no food for 

 some hours, and none of the above named 

 were obtainable. I tried them with the 

 petty spurge, common as a garden weed 

 {E. peplus), and they ate it freely, and 

 seemed to prefer it to the wood spurges 

 {E. amygdaloides and Esula), with which they 

 were afterwards supplied. Mr. Millar was 

 unable to obtain any kind of spurge for 

 them, and gave them dandelion, which they 

 ate, but did not thrive upon. 



Times of Appearance. — The imago 



appears in June, and continues on the wing 

 during the following month. The larva is 

 found from the middle of August to the 

 middle cf September. Mention was made 

 under S. pi astri of this insect being said to 

 have been taken at Harwich. It will be 

 well to quote the passage in the Entomologist 

 as I have not access to the proceedings of 

 the Entomological Society :— " Mr. Higgins 

 exhibited two bred specimens of Deil phila 

 Euphorbia (one a remarkable variety) and a 

 Sphinx Pinastri, taken near Harwich, in 

 June, 1872, when several specimens were founl 

 in the larva stated — Entomologist, Feb. 1874, 

 p. 4c. The italics are mine, as the passage 



