SPHINGIDAE. By Dr. A. Seitz. 
523 
16. Family: Sphingidae. 
As to the general description of this lepidopteral family we refer to Vol. II. p. 229—231. The presumable 
age, the descent, and the natural allies of the family have been dealt with at large in Vol. XIV, p. 253—257. 
More than 250 forms, thus about one fourth of more than 1000 Sphingid forms, occur in the Indo- 
Australian fauna. 
• 
In Vol. XIV we pointed out the eminent flying power of the Sphingidae to be one of their most remarkable 
characteristics and stated that this geographical mobility prevents the stabilization of local races, because of 
the constant interbreeding of typical straggling lepidoptera from the original patria with the newly created races, 
whereby the consolidation of the newly acquired qualities is frustrated. This has been stated in dealing with 
the African fauna, the vast and compact area of which district easily enables the lepidoptera to fly from one 
country to the next. In the Indo-Australian fauna there is another fact to be considered, which may be apt 
to transform the effect of the flying power and perseverance into the reverse. Such specially favoured flyers 
as the Sphingidae are also inclined to migrate, and since in just that Asiatic zone, which abounds most in insects, 
the Malay-Papuan district, the native land is cut up into a great number of frequently distantly-separated 
islands, all the migratory insects are liable to be driven to another patria, and on being dispersed to isolated 
islands which are not easy to reach for any later followers, single females bearing broods may very easily found 
permanent colonies. This, however, is frustrated again to some extent by the Sphingidae exhibiting sudden 
sterility on their having deviated away from their natural frontiers, so that most complicated ecological 
conditions result therefrom. 
These circumstances may have contributed to the remarkable fact that also the cosmopolitan 
Sphingidae have produced well distinguishable modifications of the original forms in but very rare cases. Herse 
convolvuli is distributed over almost the whole Old World and exhibits in four parts of the world great indi¬ 
vidual, though very few geographical variations. Moreover, Celerio lineata which is distributed over five parts 
of the world, is the same on almost the whole globe, and only very insignificant deviations of it occur in Europe 
and certain districts of Australia. 
We have spoken about the presumable phylogenetic age of the Sphingidae already in Vol. XIV (p. 354) 
and have mentioned the great uniformity of their exterior structure, which is contrasted by a great variety 
of colouring. The extremely pointed abdomen is to be found in nearly all the Sphingidae known, and wherever 
it appears broad, as for instance in the Macroglossum and the Trochilium, the way of widening by extendable 
scales shows that this deviation from the pointed structure of the abdomen is only external or rather apparent, 
and has nothing to do with the morphological disposition. Even in those cases where mimicry forces a widened 
abdomen on Sataspes thoracica (64 d) imitating the vehemently stinging Hylocopa aestuans, the original 
pointedness of the abdominal end has not been really lost, but only disguised by lateral hair. Thus of the great 
number of Indo-Australian Sphingidae only the genus Acherontia exhibits a certain roundness of the abdominal 
end, but on having removed the hairy cover even this proves to be paltry and brought about more by the ab¬ 
domen being bent down than by a widening of the last tergit. 
The structure being rather complicated, the antennae exhibit a very uniform shape. This is the more 
important since the structure of the Sphingid antennae dots not reoccur in the whole lepidopteral kingdom. 
