SPHINGIDAE. By Dr. M. Hering. 
357 
so strikingly as it has been observed in other families; despite their geographical situation, the African land¬ 
scapes, as soon as they have the same character, also exhibit the same Sphingid fauna, for instance the high 
steppes, the rainy forests, the sandy plains etc. This curious fact is likewise due to the flying powers of the 
Sphingidae which can mostly easily get to places where the territorial conditions are beneficial to their growth. 
The separation of Madagascar from the other African faunae is also expressed by the Sphingidae, since 
more than half of the species (about 50) ascertained in Madagascar have not yet been captured on the continent. 
Among them there are also very able flyers with a very great migratory inclination, such as Macroglossum and 
species of Hippotion, so that this geographical behaviour furnishes an excellent proof of the actual seclusion 
of Madagascar. However, the frequently stated conjecture of the faunistic relation of this island to the East 
Indies is not supported by the Sphingidae, none of them being known to occur both in India and in Madagascar 
which would not also occur in Continental Africa (such as Deileph. nerii and Hipp. celerio). Only two Madagassic 
lepidoptera are more closely allied to India than to Africa; Hippotion geryon and Maassenia heydeni, the latter 
of which is at any rate rather isolated. 
The reason why the whole Ethiopian district has altogether but 5 Sphingidae in common with the 
oriental fauna is probably that vast oceans or deserts must be crossed in order to wander from one range to 
the other. Although the flying power and swiftness of numerous Sphingidae would easily enable them to perform 
this task, they are prevented from doing so by another difficulty, i. e. the great want of food experienced by 
all the Sphingids, excepting the Ambulycinae or Smerinthinae which show a much inferior flying capacity. 
They seem to be unable to perform long journeys without taking food at intervals. The Macroglossum of the 
Old World, and the Sesia of the New World are incessantly drinking honey, during the scorching heat of the 
day as well as in the dusk. As the Macroglossum also often come to the lantern late at night when they are 
probably on their nuptial tour, it may be that they also take food during that time. They are particularly fond 
of drinking, and A. H. Fassl was able to capture large quantities of Sphingidae above the surface of rivers in 
America, which came to quench their thirst and, like swallows, darted down to the water touching its surface. 
Thus it seems that but few particularly strong flyers, such as Acherontia and Herse, are able to fly across vast 
deserts, and this is also consistent with the decided lack of Sphingidae in remote islands which can hardly 
boast of one or the other Sphingid from the above mentioned almost cosmopolitan species. 
With regard to the habits, the Sphingidae number among the best known and at the same time most 
similarly natured lepidoptera. Nearly all of them are early flyers and often hardly wait for dawn, and there are 
but very few species — among them the Acherontia — which apparently only awake for their flight late at 
night. Many species which as a rule only get lively at the end of daytime, may sometimes get hungry at the 
wrong time and are then forced to visit flowers in the parching sunshine, such as Celerio gallii or lineata, which 
sometimes drink honey in the midday heat *). And the eager thirst for honey may be so great that, for instance, 
Herse convolvuli drinks from flowers picked and held by pedestrians, and Acherontia atropos flew on board a 
ship and began, without any fear, to lick from the jam standing on a table, all the seats of which were engaged. 
The usual food of the Sphingidae is the honey of flowers, and certain families of plants — presumably those 
abounding in honey — are most preferably visited. I also saw, however, small species ( Gurelca ) visiting fruits 
that had fallen from the trees or were burst asunder. 
Sphingidae. 
By Dr. Martin Hering, Berlin. 
The general characteristica of this family have already been dealt with in detail in Vol. II, p. 229 seq. 
What has been said there also refers to the African species of this family being on the whole rather uniform. 
The disposition and classification of the family lias been also here performed in accordance with the fundamental 
monography of this family by Rothschild and Jordan with consideration of the genera and species which 
have been hitherto described. (Rothschild and Jordan, A Revision of the Lepidopterous Family Sphingidae, 
Novitates Zoologicae Vol. IX, Suppl. 1903). Whosoever will more exhaustively work at this family, especially 
in consideration of the structural peculiarities, above all the sexual armatures, must refer to this work. For 
the delimitation of the genera, beside the usual marks which are mostly used by lepidopterologists, also some 
peculiarities have been made use of, which are more difficult to perceive. Thus the two main groups of the 
Sphingidae, the Asemanophorae and the Semanophorae, have been separated owing to an area of modified 
sensitive hairs on the inside of the first palpal joint near its base, which is absent in the former group, but 
present in the latter group. Moreover, we used for the classification the rows of small thorns situated at the 
end of the abdominal segments, which can be noticed by means of a strong magnifying glass, if one removes 
*) Dr. RETJSS observed in East Africa Nephele comma swarming on blossoms at 3 p, m. 
