The _Deilephila (Chærocampa) nerii_ (Fig. 183), or Oleander Hawk-Moth, is a charming species almost peculiar to hot countries, where the shrub from which it derives its name grows spontaneously--that is to say, in Africa, in the southern parts of Asia, in Greece, in Spain, &c. Carried forward by its rapid flight, and assisted by atmospheric currents, these beautiful insects sometimes come accidentally into the countries of Central Europe. They have been met with many times in Paris, in the garden of the Luxembourg, where the oleander is cultivated under glass. But those which are hatched in the environs of Paris never reproduce their species, on account of the coldness of the climate. Both larva and imago--the former on periwinkle--_have_ been found in the same locality. [Illustration: Fig. 184.--Larva of Deilephila (Chærocampa) nerii.] [Illustration: Fig. 185.--Pupa of Deilephila (Chærocampa) nerii.] The caterpillar of this species (Fig. 184) is one of those called by the French _Cochonnes_, because their two first rings, which are retractile and drawn back under the third when the insect is at rest, taper in such a way as to resemble the snout of a pig, hence the English name "Elephant," when they change their place or are engaged in eating. It is of a beautiful green, with white stripes and dots on the sides, and marked on the third segment with two large spots like eyes, of an azure blue, encircled with black, and having white pupils. A short orange-coloured horn rises at the extremity of the body. A few days before its transformation, this caterpillar entirely loses its rich livery, it becomes brown on the back, and of a dirty yellow on the rest of its body, and constructs for itself a cocoon at the foot of the shrub on which it lived, with the _débris_ of leaves fastened together with threads. The cocoon contains a chrysalis (Fig. 185) of a hazel brown, delicately streaked with a darker brown, and with a very conspicuous black spot on each of its stigmata. The Elephant Hawk-Moth (_Deilephila_ [_Chærocampa_] _elpenor_, Fig. 186) is not rare during the month of June. Its fore wings are purple red, glossy above, with three bands of a light olive green, having at the base a small black spot. The inner margin is garnished with white hairs. The hind wings are of a dark rose colour above, with the base black, and the hind margin bordered with white. The four wings are rose coloured below, with the costa and the middle of an olive green; the upper ones have their interior border tinged with a blackish colour. The body is rose colour, with two longitudinal bands of an olive green over the abdomen, and five diverging lines of this colour on the thorax. The sides of the abdomen have along them a double series of yellowish points. [Illustration: Fig. 186.--Deilephila (Chærocampa) elpenor.]