The chrysalis is dark reddish, and somewhat rough. As a rule, it is enclosed in a very fragile cell which the caterpillar makes for itself after burrowing a few inches underground and near the trunk of an elm or a lime tree. There are, however, records of the chrysalis having been found in crevices of bark high up on elm trees. In May and June the moth emerges, usually in the afternoon, and may sometimes be found on the trunks of trees, or on palings near limes and elms. When at rest the fore wings are so arranged over the hind ones that they, in conjunction with the upturned body, give the insect more the appearance of a bunch of immature leaves than of a moth. The species is widely distributed throughout the southern counties of England, and in some of them, more especially around London, it is common. In the Midlands it seems to be {20} scarce, and apparently does not occur further north than Yorkshire, from which county there is only a single record. It is common in Europe, except in the more northern and southern parts, and its range extends eastwards into Siberia. THE POPLAR HAWK-MOTH (_Smerinthus_ (_Amorpha_) _populi_). On Plate 5 are three slightly different examples of this moth. In colour it is most frequently ashy grey, with a brownish central band, and other markings; there is a white spot on the fore wings and a conspicuous red patch at the base of the hind wings. The female is generally paler than the male, and often has a pinkish tinge. Specimens of a pale buff colour are sometimes obtained, and these are most often of the female sex, although male examples of this form are not unknown. Among unusual aberrations is one described as having the wings, legs, thorax, and abdomen of a colour between brick-red and chocolate, suffused with a whitish bloom as on ripe plums. Another had the hind wings unadorned with red. Specimens from Aberdeenshire and Sutherlandshire are smaller than English examples, and the males are almost always more brightly and distinctly marked. A very large number of Gynandrous, or "hermaphrodite" specimens have been recorded, several of them from Britain; in most of these the gynandromorphism is bilateral, that is the insect is wholly male on one side, and entirely female on the other. In some the right side is male, in others the left side; the opposite side in each case being female. Much information on this subject and on Hybridism of the Sphingidæ will be found in Tutt's "British Lepidoptera," vol. iii. The pale shining green eggs are laid, generally singly, but sometimes in twos, threes, or more, on either surface of a leaf of poplar or sallow. Now and then batches of eggs may be found, and these have probably been laid by females that were crippled on emergence, or had been afterwards injured in some way and so were unable to fly. [Illustration] Pl. 4. POPLAR HAWK-MOTH. _Eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis._ [Illustration] Pl. 5. POPLAR HAWK-MOTH. {21}