472 
SPHINX. 
46. Sphex turcica.—Black; thorax with a cinereous band resembling that of the Egyptian sphinx, viz., with the fore, 
before; abdomen rufous; wings black.—It is an inhabitant parts elevated, and the rest of the body applied flat to the 
of Brasil. surface. 
47. Sphex flava.—Black; head, thorax, and tail, ferru- The larva has sixteen feet, and is pretty active; that of 
ginous; wings yellow, tipt with brown.—It is found in the the Zygoma:, a division of this genus, is thick and flat, and 
East Indies. covered with short hairs; that of the Sesice is generally 
48. Sphex bicolorata.—Black; head, tip of the abdomen naked, unarmed, and thinner towards the head: the others 
and wings, yellow, the latter tipt with brown.—This is a New 
Holland insect. 
49. Sphex speciosa.—Deep black; wings rufous, tipt with 
white. 
50. Sphex fulvipennis.—Black; head, fore-part of the 
thorax, tail and legs, rufous; wings fulvous, tipt with blue.— 
This is an inhabitant of India. 
51. Sphex nobilis.—This species is varied with silver 
and black ; wings white, with two black bands —It inhabits 
Cayenne. 
52. Sphex ocellata.—Black; legs testaceous; wings black 
with an ocellar ferruginous spot on the upper pair.—Found 
in Africa. 
53. Sphex cserulea.—Blue ; wings ferruginous, upper pair 
whitish at the tip.—It inhabits South America, as does the 
next. 
54. Sphex variegata.—Entirely black; wings spotted with 
white.—Seen in divers parts of Europe. 
55. Sphex stigma.—Wings angular, grey-brown and 
reddish beneath, with white spots.—It is an inhabitant 
of the Cape. 
56. Sphex Indica.—Black; antennae and legs ferruginous; 
wings bluish-black.—It is found in South America. 
57. Sphex colon.—Black; antennae and legs rufous; 
thorax green; wings with two black spots.—It inhabits 
Sweden. 
58. Sphex Mauritanica.—Black; head, antennae, and 
legs, ferruginous, with a black border.—It inhabits Mau¬ 
ritania, and is reckoned among the large insects of this 
genus- 
59. Sphex xanthocephalus.—Black; front yellow; abdo¬ 
men and legs spotted with yellow.—It inhabits England. 
60. Sphex spinosa.—Black ; thorax with a spine on each 
side behind; the lip and breast are silvery.—It inhabits 
England. - 
.61. Sphex albomaculata.—Black; abdomen ferruginous 
at the base; wings brown, with a white spot at the tip. 
62. Sphex tricolor.—Black: segments of the abdomen 
very varied in number, some of them are testaceous, and 
others dotted with white. 
63. Sphex hoops.—Black; three segments of the abdo¬ 
men and tarsi setaceous.—It is an Austrian insect. 
64. Sphex tomentosa.—Black, downy; antennas thick 
at the base; the three first segments of the abdomen are 
ferruginous; the base and tip are black. 
SPHI'NCTER, s. [ sphincter, Latin.] One of the 
circular and constrictor muscles of the human body, as the 
sphincter ani, vagina:, &c. 
SPHINX, [ o-ptyi;, Gr.] in Sculpture, &c., a figure or 
representation of a monster of that name, famed among the 
ancients, now mostly used as an ornament in gardens, 
terraces, &c. 
It is represented with the head and breasts of a woman, 
the wings of a bird, the claws of a lion, and the rest of the 
body like a dog or lion. 
SPHINX, the Hawk-motii, in Entomology, a genus of 
insects of the order Lepidoptera, of which the Generic 
Character is as follows:—Antenna? somewhat prismatic, 
tapering at each end ; the tongue is exserted ; feelers two, 
reflected; the wings are deflected. 
The insects of this genus, of which there are nearly two 
hundred species, fly abroad only in the morning and even¬ 
ing ; they are very slow on the wing, and often make a 
humming kind of noise : they extract the nectar of flowers 
with the tongue. The generic name, sphinx, is applied on 
account of the posture assumed by the larva? of several of the 
1 arger species, which are often seen in an attitude much 
have a sharp, erect, stiff horn behind; the pupa is quiescent: 
that of the zygasnae follicukte, and a little tapering forwards, 
the rest naked and smooth ; that of the sesise pointed at each 
end, of the others very obtuse behind. 
There are three divisions of this genus ; viz., I. of which 
the antenna are scaly ; feelers hairy ; tongue spiral; II. in 
which the antenna are cylindrical; the tongue is exserted, 
truncate, and the wings entire; and III. in which the antenna 
are thicker in the middle; tongue exserted, setaceous. Of 
the principal species of these divisions we shall proceed to 
give a brief account. 
I.—Antenna scaly ; feelers hairy; tongue spiral. 
1. Sphinx ocellata.—Wings angular, lower ones rufous, 
with a blue eye. This is reckoned a very beautiful insect; 
its upper wings and body are brown, the former finely 
clouded with different shades, while the lower wings are of a 
bright rose-colour, each marked with a large ocellated black 
spot, with a blue interior circle and a black centre. This 
insect proceeds from a green caterpillar of a rough or 
shagreen-like surface, marked on each side by seven oblique 
yellowish-white streaks, and furnished, like the preceding, 
with a horn at the tail.—It is chiefly found on the willow ; 
retires under ground, in order to undergo its change into the 
chrysalis state, in the month of August or September, and 
in the following June appears the complete insect. 
2. Sphinx quercus.—Wings angular, indented, cinereous, 
with dark streaks; lower ones ferruginous, white at the angle 
of the tail.—This inhabits Germany. The larva is solitary 
and of a green colour, with oblique lateral stripes and rufous 
stigmata ; pupa chesnut, with rufous margin. 
3. Sphinx populi.—Wings indented, reversed, grey; 
upper pair vyith a white central spot; lower ones ferruginous 
at the base.—This is found in England and many parts of 
Europe. It is figured by Donovan, and other writers on 
natural history. The larva is solitary, rough, green, with 
oblique white stripes on the sides; the pupa is of a dull 
brown, but ferruginous behind. 
4. Sphinx tilise.—Wings angular, with greenish clouds 
and darker bands; lower ones beneath yellow, testaceous.— 
The larva is solitary, rough, green, with oblique red and 
yellow stripes on the sides ; the pupa is brown. 
5. Sphinx pylas.—Wings scalloped, indented, variegated; 
lower ones fulvous, yellow at the base, and black at the tip. 
—It inhabits Surinam. Lower wings with a marginal black 
band, and contiguous smaller one; the edge itself is yel¬ 
lowish. 
6. Sphinx cacus.—Wings indented, black, with three 
approximate pale streaks; lower ones are yellow, striate with 
black. The abdomen is marked with cinereous and black 
belts. 
7. Sphinx dentata.—Wings indented ; low r er ones brown, 
with a white streak ; the abdomen is annulate with white.— 
It is an Indian insect. The head and thorax are blueish, 
speckled with brown; the upper wings are blueish, with 
brown specks and bands. 
8. Sphinx alope.—Wings indented, brown; lower ones 
yellow, tipt with black ; abdomen black, with interrupted 
pale belts. 
9. Sphinx jatrophae.—Wings slightly indented; lower one 
black, with a rufous base and hyaline band; the head 
is two-horned. The larva is green, with a moniliform 
tail; the pupa is brown, with an inflected cylindrical 
tail. 
10. Sphinx atropos.—The wings of the insects of this 
species are entire; the lower ones are yellow, with two brown 
bands; the abdomen is yellow, with belts. This is said to 
be 
