THE HAWK-MOTHS 
31 
little trap-doors cut in the backs of the plant-lice, and; minute parasites 
will be flying about in the glass. —Bskell L. Blore. 
THE HAWK-MOTHS 
C V N ® spring day while looking at some pupae I had keep in a box all 
wintei I noticed that one seemed to have more life than the others. 
A mere touch of the finger would cause it to wriggle and squirm from 
side to side. It was also 1 different in appearance from the rest. It was 
longer, more slender, and had a more distinctly shaped head than the 
others. I was anxious to see the adult emerge, so I determined to watch 
the pupae closely. 
Rather late in the afternoon I noticed that the pupa-case was split 
near the head on the under side, and I expected the adult to 1 emerge 
before morning. But there was; apparently little change until the mid¬ 
dle of the afternoon next day, when, rather suddenly, at a moment when 
I happened not, to be near, the moth came out and perched itself, head 
upward, upon a paper. 
When I first discovered it, I was astonished at its peculiar appear¬ 
ance. Its downy body was about two inches long, but the larger two* of 
its four wings were not more than one half inch long. Its large head 
and eyes and the long proboscis curled up in front of the head gave it 
a rather fierce appearance. 
I was much disappointed at seeing the size of its wings; for I had 
hoped it would be a large, beautiful moth. I placed it in a box and left 
it for one and one half hours. When I returned to look at it, to my sur¬ 
prize its wings, wfhen spread, now measured about three and one half 
inches from tip to tip. They were long, narrow, and pointed, revealing 
that the insect was a hawk-moth, or a humming-bird moth, as they are 
sometimes called. These moths may be seen in the dusk of the evening 
flying about the flower-beds and, by means of the long proboscis, suck¬ 
ing the nectar from the flowers while on the wing, as humming-birds 
do. When flying they make a sound similar to that made by humming¬ 
birds. 
There are many species of hawk-moths, but their larvae are usually 
large green caterpillars. One of the most common is the so-called 
tomato-worm, which feeds on both tomatoes and potatoes. It is a large 
green “worm” marked with oblique white stripes upon the sides of its 
