SPHINX CONVOLVULI or BATATÆ.
This moth is found in England, and all over Europe. It is a large moth, measuring about five inches across the wings. All four wings are of a variegated grey-brown colour, the body having a longitudinal grey stripe, increasing in width at the base, and five stripes of pink and black across it alternately. The antennæ are somewhat longer and more slender than those of the Death’s Head moth. They are feathered, and grey in colour, terminating in a sharp point. The insect is provided with a very long proboscis, which one sees it inserting into the centre of the flowers at dusk. During the winter months it is met with commonly in some years. The caterpillar, which measures four inches in length, feeds on the sweet potato in the fields, and on the petunia and phlox in gardens. It is of a brown-grey colour, shading to green on the back, having black longitudinal stripes along the back, and transverse black and white stripes surmounted by white spots at the sides. It is a night-feeder, hiding itself under the leaves or in the ground at day-time, and constructing the pupa-case underground. It is delicate and difficult to rear in captivity, like the Atropos.