LEPIDOPTEIiA. 
81 
In some seasons they appear in very great numbers in 
some localities. The larvse feed on bed-straw ( Galium 
Mollugo). A drawing of the Humming-bird Moth will 
be seen on Plate III., Fig. 4. The flight of this moth is 
amazingly swift. To this same group also belongs the 
curious wasp-like or bee-like moths called Clearwings 
(Plate IIP, Fig. 7), from the absence of scales on the 
wings except at the margins ; these are Sesict fuciformis 
or broad-bordered Bee-hawk, 8. Bombyliformis , the 
narrow bordered Bee-hawk, Spliecia apiformis , whose 
figure appears in the illustration, S. Bembeciformis , and 
various species of Trocliilium . In all these species the 
wings are more or less transparent, with a black edge ; 
the upper wings are generally barred with brown, orange, 
and black. The bodies of the genus Trochilium are 
slender. At the end of the abdomen there is a brush¬ 
like tuft, more or less conspicuous. 
Of all our British moths, Mr. Newman says, the 
Sesiidcc are the most elegant, graceful, and fairy-like. 
Unlike almost all other moths, they fly in sunshine, and 
nothing can exceed the grace and beauty of their mo¬ 
tions as they hover over a flower, or walk over its petals 
and leaves, gently waving their transparent and sylph- 
like wings. The most remarkable character that belongs 
to these moths is this:—they seem to have no similarity 
at all to other moths, but rather resemble gnats, and 
bees and wasps, and a variety of other insects. The 
hornet-like appearance of the Sesia apiformis is obvious 
at a glance. The larva feeds on the wood of poplars 
and aspens, into which it burrows. Here it changes 
after two years of larva-life into a pupa, the perfect 
insect appearing about midsummer. 
a 
