DEILEPHILA EUPHORBIÆ. Alis anticis virescentibus vittâ latâ luridâ
maculâque disci virescente, posticis nigris fasciâ margineque exteriori
roseis, abdomine cingulis (interruptis) albis. (Expans. Alar. 2 unc. 10
lin. [male]. 3 unc. 1 lin. [female].)
SYN. Sphinx Euphorbiæ, _Linn. Syst. Nat._ 2. 802. _Donov. Brit. Ins._ 3.
_pl._ 91. 92. _Fabr. Ent. Syst._ III. 1. 367. _No._ 37. _Gmel. Linn. S.
N._ 2383. 19. _Haworth Lep. Brit._ 61.
The Spotted Hawk Moth, _Harris Aurelian, pl._ 44. _f._ a. c.
Deilephila Euphorbiæ, _Ochs. Schmett._ iv. _p._ 43. _Curtis Brit. Ent._
1. _pl._ 4.
HABITAT: Holland, Germany (_Drury_). England, and other parts of Europe.
_Upper Side._ Head and thorax olive, having a white stripe on each side,
which, beginning at the palpi and running across the shoulders, ends at
the base of the abdomen; the olive colour extending along that part to
its extremity. The first segment of the abdomen is black, the second
cream colour, the remainder alternately cream colour and olive. The
superior wings are of a flesh colour, having a narrow olive bar beginning
at the tips, which, crossing them, ends at the posterior margin, widening
gradually; an olive patch, the size of a small pea, is also placed on
each next the shoulders, and another on the middle near the anterior
edge. Cilia cream colour. The posterior wings black at the base; below
which is a rose-coloured bar crossing them, next that is a narrow black
indented bar, and beneath these the wing is flesh-coloured, with white
cilia.
_Under Side._ The breast rose-coloured. The abdomen flesh-coloured, with
cream-coloured rings. Wings faint rose and flesh-coloured; the anterior
having a black spot in each, near the middle, and not far from the
anterior edge.
Since the days of Drury this handsome insect has been ascertained to be a
native of our island. It has, however, until lately been deemed one of the
rarest as well as most beautiful species in the rare family to which it
belongs. Entomologists are indebted not only for a considerable number of
specimens, but, what is more interesting, for a knowledge of the habits of
the insect to William Raddon, Esq. the celebrated engraver, by whom an
interesting notice has been published in the Entomological Magazine. It
feeds upon the sea {59}spurge (Euphorbia paralias), which grows in plenty
on the sand hills in the neighbourhood of Barnstaple and Braunton Burrows,
in Devonshire. These sand hills are of great extent, and, as suggested by
Mr. Curtis, must have been collected by the winds and storms to which they
are constantly exposed. During the winter the whole soil is frequently
removed, so as completely to alter the surface of the country; a great
number of the pupæ must consequently be destroyed or buried at a
considerable distance below the surface, where probably they lie hid until
they are brought to light and life by the influence of the elements. These
circumstances account for the great irregularity in the appearance of the
insects. In 1814, for instance, they were so plentiful that Mr. Raddon
found not less than one hundred minute larvæ upon an armful of spurge,
which he had cut at dusk the preceding evening. The rarity of the insect is
also increased by the difficulty of rearing it. The late Mr. Fuseli, the
royal academician, who was a zealous entomologist, was enabled only to
obtain one moth from twenty chrysalides. The larvæ are full grown in
September, and the moth appears in the following June.