SPH 
SPH 
inliabits the body of some othei' insect, on 
whose juices it exists; the pupa lias rudi- 
ments of wings. 
S. macnlata, is found in England. Thorax 
spotted; first segment of the abdomen with 
a white dot on each side ; second, edged witli 
white. See Plate IV. Entomology, fig. 6. 
S. fignlus, an inhabitant of Ilpsal, is 
smooth and black ; segments of the abdo- 
men at the edges and lip lucid. It is found 
in holes of wooden partitions, abandoned 
by other insects ; these it cleanses by gnaw- 
ing round them, and placing a piece of 
moist clay at the bottom sticks a spider 
upon it ; in the body of this spider it depo- 
sits its eggs, and then closes np the entrance 
with clay, and leaves it to be devoured by 
the larva. 
S. spirifex, is black ; thorax hairy, im- 
maculate ; petiole of one joint, yellow, as 
long as the abdomen. This insect is found in 
Egypt, and in several parts of Europe, in 
cylindrical cavities, wrought wdthin like a 
honey-comb, on the sides of clifi's, and in 
the mud walls of cottages. 
S. figulus, is one of the species mention- 
ed by br. Shaw. Tliis insect having found 
some convenient cavity, seizes a spider, arid 
having killed it.,, deposits it at the bottom ; 
then layiijg her egg in it, she closes up the 
orifice of the cavity with clay; the larva, 
which resembles the maggot of a bee, hav- 
ing devoured tlie spider, spins itself up in a 
dusky silken web, and changes into a chry- 
salis, out of which, within a certain number 
of days, proceeds the complete insect. The 
female of this species prepares several sepa- 
rate holes, or nests, in each of w'hich she 
places a dead insect and an egg ; each cell 
costing her the labour of about tw'o days. 
SPHINCTER, in anatomy, a tefm ap- 
plied to a kind of circular muscles, or mus- 
cles in form of rings, which serve to close 
and draw np several orifices of the body, 
and prevent the excretion of the contents: 
thus the sphincter of the anus closes the ex- 
tremity of the intestinum rectum. 
SPHINX, in natural history, hawk-moth, 
a genus of insects of the order Lepidoptera. 
Antennae somewhat prismatic, tapering at 
each end ; tongue mostly exserted ; two 
feelers, reflected ; wings deflected. There 
rare about two hundred species; these fly 
abroad in the morning and evening, are 
very slow on tlie wing, and often make a 
humming kind of noise ; they extract the 
nectary of flowers with the tongue ; the 
larva has sixteen feet, and is pretty active. 
The name of the sphinx is applied to the 
genus on account of the posture assumed 
by the larvae of several of the larger species, 
which are said to be seen in an attitude 
much resembling that of the Egyptian 
sphinx. Tliis numerous genus is divided 
into sections: A. antennae scaly; feelers 
hairy ; tongue spiral. B. antennae cylindri- 
cal; tongue exserted, truncate; wings en- 
tire. C. antennae thicker in the middle ; 
tongue exserted. The largest, and perhaps 
the most beautiful of the European species, 
is S. atropos ; of this, the_ upper wings are 
of a fine dark grey, with a few slight vari- 
gations, of dull orange and white ; the body 
is orange coloured, with the sides marked 
with black bars, while along the top of the 
back, from the thorax to the tail, runs a 
broad blue-grey stripe ; on the top of the 
thorax is a very large patch, of a most sin- 
gular appearance, exactly resembling the 
usiial figure of a skull. When in the least 
disturbed, or irritated, this insect emits a 
sound like the squeaking of a mouse or a 
bat. In many pans of Europe it is held 
much ill dread by the vulgar, and regarded 
as the harbinger of misfortune. The cater- 
pillar, from which this curious sphinx pro- 
ceeds, is in tlie Highest degree beautiful, 
and surpasses in size every other European 
insect of the kind, being sometimes five 
inches in length: its colour is a bright 
yellow, tli9 sides marked by a row of seven 
most elegant broad stripes, of a mixed vio- 
let and sky-blue colour; on the last joint 
of the body is a horn, or process, hanging 
over the joint in the manner of a tail, hav- 
ing a rough or muricated surface, and a 
yellow colour. This caterpillar is princi- 
pally found on the potatoe and the jas- 
mine ; 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 summer. This species is ge- 
nerally considered as a very rare insect ; 
and as the caterpillar feeds chiefly by night, 
concealing itself during the day, it is not 
often seen. See Plate IV. Entomology, 
fig. 7. 
S. ligiistri, or privet hawk-moth, is a 
large insect, measuring nearly four inches 
and a half from wing’s end to wing’s end : 
the upper wings of a brown colour, most 
elegantly varied or shaded with deeper and 
lighter streaks and patches ; the under wings 
and body are of a fine rose colour, barred 
with transverse black stripes. The cater- 
pillar, which is very large, is smooth, and of 
a fine green, with seven oblique purple and 
