proportion, they consume great quantities of leaves; and the long leafless branches of the vine too often afford evidence of their voracity. They also devour the leaves of the common creeper (Ampelopsis quinquefolia), which, with those of our indigenous vines, were their only food till the introduction and increased cultivation of foreign vines afforded them an additional supply. They come to their growth during the month of August, enter the earth to transform, and appear in the winged or moth state the following summer in June and July. The Satellitia Hawk-moth expands from four to five inches, is of a light olive color, variegated with patches of darker olive. The Achemon expands from three to four inches, is of a reddish ash-color, with two triangular patches of deep brown on the thorax, and two square ones on each fore wing; the hind wings are pink, with a deeper red spot near the middle, and a broad ash-colored border behind.

The grape-vine suffers still more severely from the ravages of another kind of Sphinx caterpillars, smaller in size than the preceding, and like them solitary in their habits, but more numerous, and, not content with eating the leaves alone, in their progress from leaf to leaf down the stem, they stop at every cluster of fruit, and, either from stupidity or disappointment, nip off the stalks of the half-grown grapes, and allow them to fall to the ground untasted. I have gathered under a single vine above a quart of unripe grapes thus detached during one night by these caterpillars. They are naked and fleshy like those of the Achemon and Satellitia, and are generally of a pale green color (sometimes, however, brown), with a row of orange-colored spots on the top of the back, six or seven oblique darker green or brown lines on each side, and a short spine or horn on the hinder extremity. The head is very small, and, with the fore part of the body, is somewhat retractile, but not so completely as in the two preceding species. The fourth and fifth segments being very large and swollen, while the three anterior segments taper abruptly to the head, the fore part of the body presents a resemblance to the head and snout of a hog. This suggested the generical name of Charocampa, or hog-caterpillar, which has been ap

plied to some of these insects. The species under consideration is found on the vine and the creeper in July and August; when fully grown it descends to the ground, conceals itself under fallen leaves, which it draws together by a few threads so as to form a kind of cocoon, or covers itself with grains of earth and rubbish in the same way, and under this imperfect cover it changes to a pupa or chrysalis, and finally appears in the winged state in the month of July of the following year. The moth, to which Sir James Edward Smith gave the name of Pampinatrix, from its living on the shoots of the vine, expands from two and a half to three inches, is of an olive-gray color, except the hind wings, which are rust-colored, and the fore wings and shoulder-covers are traversed with olive-green bands.

Among the other Sphinges of Massachusetts may be mentioned those belonging to the genus Smerinthus, whose tongue is very short and scarcely visible, and whose fore wings are generally scalloped on the outer edge. Their caterpillars are rough or granulated, with a stout thorn on the tail, and a triangular head, the apex of the triangle corresponding to the crown. The blind-eyed Smerinthus (S. excæcata) is fawncolored, clouded with brown, except the hind wings, which are rose-colored in the middle, and ornamented with an eye-like black spot having a pale blue centre. The caterpillar lives on the apple-tree, but is not common enough to prove seriously injurious. The same observation will apply to that of the chocolate brown-eyed Sphinx (Smerinthus myops), which lives on the wild cherry-tree, and to the walnut Sphinx (Smerinthus Juglandis), which lives on the black walnut and butternut. The latter species is destitute of eye-like spots on the hind wings. Of those belonging to the genus Sphinx proper, that which bears the specific name drupiferarum inhabits the hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) and the plum-tree; Sphinx Kalmiæ inhabits the broad-leaved laurel (Kalmia latifolia); the caterpillar of the Gordius is found on the apple-tree; that of the great ash-colored Sphinx (S. cinerea) on the lilac; Hylæus on the black alder (Prinos glaber, &c.), and whortleberry; and the curiously checkered caterpillar of Sphinx coniferarum on pines.

Of the hog-caterpillars, those of Charocampa Charilus and versicolor may be found on swamp pinks (Azalea viscosa and nudiflora). The caterpillar of the white-lined morning Sphinx (Deilephila lineata) feeds upon purslane and turnip leaves; and that of Deilephila Chamænerii on the willow-herb (Epilobium angustifolium). The clear-winged Sphinges, Sesia pelasgus and diffinis, are distinguished by their transparent wings and their fan-shaped tails. They hover over flowers, like hummingbirds, during the daytime, in the months of July and August. Their caterpillars bear a general resemblance to those of the genus Sphinx, and, as far as they are known, seem to possess the same habits.

The Egerians (GERIADE) constitute a very distinct group among the Sphinges. They are easily recognized, in the perfected or winged state, by their resemblance to bees, hornets, or wasps, by their narrow wings, which are mostly transparent, and by the tufts or brush at the end of the body, which they have the power of spreading out like a fan at pleasure. They fly only in the daytime, and frequently alight to bask in the sunshine. Their habits, in the caterpillar state, are entirely different from those of the other Sphinges; the latter living exposed upon plants whose leaves they devour, while the caterpillars of the Ægerians are concealed within the stems or roots of plants, and derive their nourishment from the wood and pith. Hence they are commonly called borers, a name, however, which is equally applicable to the larvæ or young of many insects of other orders. The caterpillars of the Ægerians are whitish, soft, and slightly downy. Like those of other Sphinges they have sixteen feet, but they are destitute of a thorn or prominence on the last segment of the body. When they have come to their full size, they enclose themselves in oblong oval cocoons, made of fragments of wood or bark cemented by a gummy matter, and within these are transformed to chrysalids. The latter are of a shining bay color, and the edges of the abdominal segments are armed with transverse rows of short teeth. By means of these little teeth, the chrysalis, just before it is about to be transformed to a winged insect, works its way out of the cocoon, and partly

through the hole, in the stem or root, which the caterpillar had previously made; and the shell of the chrysalis is left half emerging from the orifice, after the moth has escaped from it.

The ash-tree suffers very much from the attacks of borers of this kind, which perforate the bark and sap-wood of the trunk from the roots upwards, and are also found in all the branches of any considerable size. The trees thus infested soon show symptoms of disease, in the death of branches near the summit; and, when the insects become numerous, the trees no longer increase in size and height, and premature decay and death ensue. These borers assume the chrysalis form in the month of June, and the chrysalids may be seen projecting half way from the round holes in the bark of the tree in this and the following month, during which time their final transformation is effected, and they burst open and escape from the shells of the chrysalis in the winged or moth state. Under this form this insect was described, in my paper in Professor Silliman's "Journal of Science," by the name of Trochilium* denudatum; as the habits of the larva are now ascertained, we may call it the ash-tree Trochilium. Its general color is brown; the edges of the collar and of the abdominal rings, the shins, the feet, and the under side of the antennæ are yellowish. The hind wings are transparent; the fore wings are opake and brown, variegated with rust-red; they have a transparent space near the tips, and expand about an inch and a half.

During the month of August, the squash and other cucurbitaceous vines are frequently found to die suddenly down to the root. The cause of this premature death is a little borer, which begins its operations near the ground, perforates the stem, and devours the interior. It afterwards enters the soil, forms a cocoon of a gummy substance covered with particles of earth, changes to a chrysalis, and comes forth the next summer a winged insect. This is conspicuous for its orange-colored body, spotted with black, and its hind legs fringed with long

The word Trochilium is derived from Trochilus, the scientific name of the humming-bird genus; and these insects are sometimes called humming-bird moths.

orange-colored and black hairs. The hind wings only are transparent, and the fore wings expand from one inch to one inch and a half. It deposits its eggs on the vines close to the roots, and may be seen flying about the plants from the tenth of July till the middle of August. This insect, which may be called the squash-vine Ægeria, was first described by me in the year 1828, under the name of Egeria Cucurbitæ, the trivial name indicating the tribe of plants on which the caterpillar feeds.*

The pernicious borer, which, during many years past, has proved very destructive to peach-trees throughout the United States, is a species of Egeria, named exitiosa, or the destructive, by Mr. Say, who first scientifically described it in the third volume of the "Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia," and subsequently gave a representation and account of it in his "American Entomology." In the fifth volume of the "New England Farmer," I have given the history of this insect, have mentioned the principal authors who have noticed it, and recommended preventive measures, which have been found effectual in protecting the peach-tree from its most serious attacks. The eggs, from which these borers are hatched, are deposited, in the course of the summer, upon the trunk of the tree near the root; the borers penetrate the bark, and devour the inner bark and sap-wood. The seat of their operations is known by the castings and gum which issue from the holes in the tree. When these borers are nearly one year old, they make their cocoons either under the bark of the trunk or of the root, or in the earth and gum contiguous to the base of the trees; soon afterwards they are transformed to chrysalids, and finally come forth in the winged state, and lay the eggs for another generation of borers. The last transformation takes place from June to October, most frequently, however, during the month of July, in the State of Massachusetts. Here, although there are several broods produced by a

* See "New England Farmer," Vol. VIII., p. 33; my Discourse before the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, in 1832, p. 26; and "Silliman's Journal," Vol. XXXVI., p. 310.