Syn. Sphinx Lugubris, Linn. Mant. 2. 537.Fabr. Ent. Syst. III. 1. 356. No. 5. Gmel. Linn. S. N. 2372. 50. Abbot and Smith Ins. Georg. 1. t. 30. Swainson Zool. Illustr. 1st Series, vol. 1.
Habitat: Antigua (Drury). Georgia (Abbot).
Upper Side. Antennæ, head, thorax, and abdomen dark brown. The tail very broad and hairy. All the wings dark brown chesnut; having very few distinct marks or lines, except the anterior pair, which have a small black discoidal spot, and a very narrow line next the shoulders of a lighter brown, crossing them from the anterior to the posterior edges. The posterior wings are slightly, the anterior deeply, dentated.
Under Side. Thorax, legs, abdomen, upper and lower wings rather paler than on the upper side. On the anterior wings are two very faint brown lines, crossing them from the anterior to the posterior edges, situated between the middle and the external margin. On the posterior wings also are two small faint waved lines of a darker colour, beginning at the anterior edges and ending a little above the abdominal corners.
The caterpillar of this hawk-moth was found by Abbot on the Virginian Creeper. It went into the ground on the 18th of August, and the fly came out on the 11th of September. The tail of the male spreads like a fan. This is a very rare species; one was caught in the evening on a gourd blossom. It flew exceedingly swift, making a noise like a humble bee. The caterpillar is of a very pale greenish colour, with two dark dorsal lines, terminating at the base of the straight tail; the sides of the body are also ornamented with pale yellow oblique stripes, margined with brown. The chrysalis is chesnut, with a short point at the extremity of the body, and without any tongue-case.
DEILEPHILA TERSA.
Plate [XXVIII]. fig. 3.
Order: Lepidoptera. Section: Crepuscularia. Family: Sphingidæ, Leach.
Genus. Deilephila, Ochs. Eumorphæ p. Hübn. Sphinx p. Fabr.
Deilephila Tersa. Alis anticis griseis, lineis nonnullis obliquis parallelis nigris; posticis nigris fasciâ maculari luteo-albâ. (Expans. Alar. 3 unc.)