172 
LETTERS FROM ALABAMA. 
cabinets ; it is smaller, adorned with brighter 
purple, and more of that hue ; the antennsB, which 
in the female are thread-like, are, in the male, fea- 
thered through half their length,. Abbott gives a 
figure of the larva and pupa ; the former is about 
four inches long, and thick in proportion, tubercled, 
with tufts of hair on the back ; the colour is some- 
times green, but usually tawny. It feeds on the 
sycamore, liquidambar, oak, and pine. The chry- 
salis is large and blackish, with a forked tail. 
The mere enumeration of species, in general, 
possesses little interest to any but the scientific 
collector ; it is not altogether useless, however, as 
the formation of local faunas materially contributes 
to accurate ideas of the geographical distribution 
of animals. This must be my excuse for occa- 
sionally giving the names of insects which I have 
met with, even when I can supply no other infor- 
mation about them. I have lately canght Milesia 
ornata^ a large dipterous fly, handsomely and sin- 
gularly marked with black, upon a bright yellow 
ground ; Ampliipyra pyramidea^ a moth, which 1 
have taken in Canada, and which is a native also 
of England ; Sphinx pampinatrix^ a pretty little 
olive-coloured Hawk-moth, which sat vibrating 
her wings as if shivering, on a bush in the garden, 
one evening, and which I netted without difficulty, 
as she would scarcely leave the spot. 
A few evenings ago, while twilight was yet 
bright, there was a most unusual concourse of Bats, 
flying in circles a few yards from the ground, 
around the stables and horse-yard. A multitude 
>^f minute dipterous flies were in the air, probably 
recently evolved from the dunghill, forming, no 
doubt, the centre of attraction to the bats, which 
