5 
w iGD the caterpilLu bas been too lazy to burrow below* 
the surface. The of this moth resembles those of the 
other Sykingidoe. It is large, smooth, and globular ; in 
colour pale greenish and translucent. Smerinthus populi 
is common (sometimes abundant) throughout Perthshire, 
not unfrequently being found in the streets of Perth, I 
^aw a fine specimen one day sitting on a wall in Princes 
Street. 
2. The Death’s-head Hawk-moth {Acherontia Atropos) 
is in many respects very interesting. It is the largest 
British moth (and indeed the largest insect); and the 
only British moth endowed with a voice (if the sound it 
makes can be so called), and it is otherwise interesting 
from the superstitions it has given rise to. 
This species often measures five inches across the wings, 
which are rich brown, mottled, and banded, the hind 
wings being yellow, with two black bands. The body is 
yellow, with black bands, and on the thorax between the 
v'ings is the representation of a skull (at least such is the 
popular interpretation of a light coloured mark there.) 
The tongue in this species is more strongly developed than 
in the last, but still not very long. It does not appear to 
have been ever observed sucking the honey of flowers, 
but has the reputation of attacking bee-hives and sucking 
up the honey stored therein. Indeed I believe the moth 
has sometimes been found in the hive. It is also said 
that the sound it makes resembles that uttered by the 
queen bee, and that thus it is able, by instilling fear into 
the bees, to commit its depredations without peril. Be that 
as it may, the caterpillar, the chrysalis, and the perfect in¬ 
sect have all the power of uttering a sound resembling the 
fcqueak of a-mouse; in the chrysalis and caterpillar stages, 
however, it is only sometimes that it is heard. How the 
sound is produced has been a favourite subject of investi¬ 
gation by entomologists, and even now has not been satis¬ 
factorily explained—each investigator arriving at a dif¬ 
ferent conclusion. The sound cannot be called a voice 
exactly, as, of course, it is not produced in the same man¬ 
ner as the voice of animals furnished with a laryns. 
The caterpillar of the death’s head hawk-moth usually 
feeds upon the leaves of the potato plant, though 
it is occasionally found upon other allied plants. It 
is yellow, with minute black dots, andj seven oblique 
blue stripes on each side. The horn is rough and bent 
down, but turned up again at the tip. The chrysalis is 
large and smooth, and is to be found below the surface of 
the ground. The caterpillar is found in August and the 
