[99] [In 1879 Mr. E. Boscher found about thirty full-grown caterpillars
of this species in the neighbourhood of Twickenham, ten to twelve
of which were feeding on _Salix viminalis_, and the remainder, from
a locality not far distant, on _Salix triandra_. The whole of the
specimens taken on the plant first named, had the red-brown spots above
and below the oblique stripes more or less completely developed, as
I myself had an opportunity of observing. In these spotted specimens
the ground-colour was bright yellowish-green, and in the others this
colour was dull whitish-green above, passing into bluish-green below.
Should these observations receive wider confirmation, it would be
fair to conclude that this species is now in two states of phyletic
development, the more advanced stage being represented by the brighter
spotted variety. (See also Proc. Ent. Soc. 1879, p. xliv.). Mr. Peter
Cameron has recently suggested (Trans. Ent. Soc. 1880, p. 69) that the
reddish-brown spots on the _Smerinthus_ caterpillars may serve for
purposes of disguise, as they closely resemble, both in colour and
form, certain galls (_Phytoptus_) of the food-plants of these species.
If this view be admitted, these spots must be considered as a new
character, now being developed by natural selection. The variation in
the ground-colour of the two forms of _S. Ocellatus_ may possibly be
phytophagic, but this can only be decisively settled by a series of
carefully conducted experiments. R.M.]
[100] “Insekten-Belustigungen,” Suppl. Pl. 38, Fig. 40.
[101] “Catalogue of Lepidop.” British Museum. [Butler divides the
subfamily _Smerinthinæ_ into 17 genera, containing 79 species, viz.
_Metamimas_, 2; _Mimas_, 4; _Polyptychus_, 7; _Lophostethus_, 1;
_Sphingonæpiopsis_, 1; _Langia_, 2; _Triptogon_, 23; _Laothoë_, 2;
_Cressonia_, 3; _Paonias_, 2; _Calasymbolus_, 5; _Smerinthus_, 5;
_Pseudosmerinthus_, 2; _Daphnusa_, 4; _Leucophlebia_, 5; _Basiana_, 10;
_Cæquosa_, 1. R.M.]
[102] “Cabinet Orient. Entom.,” p. 13, Pl. VI., Fig. 2. [Butler places
this species doubtfully among the _Sphinginæ_. R.M.]
[103] “Catalogue of the Lepidop. Insects of the E.I. Co.,” by Horsfield
and Moore. Pl. VIII., Fig. 6.
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