THE HAWK-MOTH

Hokitika Guardian, 29 April 1933, Page 2

THE HAWK-MOTH

NOTABLE FEATURES. A few weeks ago correspondents, states J. Drummond, F.L.S., F.Z.S., drew, attention to two notable features of the h.vwk-niotlp .Sphinx convolvuli. The features described are it s exceptional power of flight and its eonspiunousnoss in its caterpillar stage, wnen tt ig about, three inches dong, bright -green or light yellow, and when it wears a strange reddish horn on .the last segment of its body. Air CH. Taylor, Kaimiata, West- Coast, lu.s sent...are individual moth, with an inquiry as to another feature. It is '‘a trunk -fully six inches' long, curled up like a. match spring, and fitting into place under the head.” This remarkable proboscis is a tube, or two tubes, which, interlocking, form a third tube. In its perfect stage, a moth or butterfly abandons the vegetarianism it observes strictly when it is merely a caterpillar. As an adult, living in the air and breathing the scented atmo s phere amongst flowers that beautify fields, pastures, roadsides, and gardens, it sips nectar from the blossoms. In the hawk-moth, nectar is cucked up through tho proboscis by the action of a bladder in tho head. Muscles in the two outer tubes coil and uncoil tho proboscis, extending' it to its full length when it is thrust deep into -a- calyx from which the hawkmoth 'with joys draw nectar. The outer tubes have tiny airtubes aind, at their tips, pimples believed to- be organs of taste. Must moths and all butterflies have spin*] trunks made on this principle. There are some families of moths in which the organ is vestigal. As perfect, insects, these moths take no food. They iseem to rely upon reserves of food stored up when they were cater, pi Hare, greedy, voracious', and Insatiable.

Perhaps even more interesting than its probo s cis are a butterfly’s antennae, or feelers. A searching examination of the antennae has disclosed in them innumerable microscopical pits. E Hch pit contains bristles, believed to be associated with the sense of smell or of t-ouch; It has been stated that, in a butterfly or in a moth, these senses may be developed to a degree far surpassing any tilling’ with which people are familiar. An English entomologist, Air N. D. Riley, believes that a butterfly’s sense of touch may be so delicate as to appreciate changes of air.pressure when the butterfly'' approaches solid objects, and that its smell may be so ■keen a« -to account if-or established •facts that -seem improbable on the face of it.

Test ef moths and butterflies’ senses have bad -strange results. The insects have been undisturbed by loud noises, but the snapping of twigs and the gentle rustling of leaves at night have sent masses of them off in a fright. Butterflies on a verandah in Africa took hardly any notice when a rifle was fired' close to *hem. A slight rustling noise put them to flight-. The conclusion reached by M r X. D. Riley, a . Fellow of the Entomological Society, is that, butterflies- have some s ort of ears, probably capable of appreciating a range of vibrations that differ from those -recorded by human ears. Cicadas, grasshoppers, crickets and fome other groups of insects -are noted for their sound-producing organs, musical instruments of a- primitive type. Although musical talents are rare amongst moths and butterflies, Australia’s whistling moth produces a peculiar sound when H makes strange, circling flights at sunset. The whistling talent is .possessed by the males only. The instrument is a - large, rough, -sc-al-ehss area on each forewing. 'Some observers report that male Camberwell Beauties in the Old Country, while circling near females, -make faint sounds by rubbing the veins of each forewing over a vein on a hind-wing. Large mottled butterflies in tropical America in flight, make a distinct clicking sound, striking a projection near the base of each forewing, against a double hook on the body. The death’s-head moth of the O'd Country makes a squeaking sound by forcing air through its proboscis. Mr C. B Walker, Symonds Street, Onehunga, -has described an interesting habit which, he states, he observed in a big, fat, pea-green hawk-moth caterpillar. On a caterpillar being pricked with a needle, the peculiar horn on the last eectjon of the body bent forward. A pink whip was shot out of the horn and struck the place pricked with a needle, the peculiar horn on the last section of the body bent forward. A pink whip was shot out of the horn and struck the place pricked with the needle, quickly disappearing into the horn again. The organ is about as thick as a. ,piine-needle and bends as the blow falls like a whip. Mr Walker suggests that tlijg is the caterpillar’s defence against ichneumon-flies. Females of these notorious parasites prick the caterpillars’ soft bodies with their long, dernier, flexible, thread'-ike, egglaying instruments. The ichneumons’ eggs r-re deposited in the pun hues. On hatching, the young ichneumons feed on the caterpillars’ warm flesh -and juice s , imposing upon them a horrible lingering death.

HORNTAIL BORER. -The hornt-ail borer, since its accidental introduction into -New Zealand not very long -ago, has spread so far over the Dominion as to alarm foresters and sawmiilers. The presence of this

large borer from over the water its undersirahle, but it should be less

dreaded that the common -house-borer •which, although small, doe s greater damage than can bu assessed in pounds, shillings and pence. The horntail borer leaves houses end furniture alone. Its white, fleshy grub® attack old logs and timber freshly felled, but. on Dr R. J. Tillyard’s authority, not healthy, growing trees/. The horntail borer, Sirex juvenous, is a handsome insect. Th e sexes wear different colours, but the female may be distinguished by her highly efficient egglaying instrument, with which she bores into wood. INSECT AT WORK.

A description of thi® work inis b<\n sent by Miss V. Wiseman, Ktmhiriy Rod, Epsom, Auckland. Her letter i.s as follows:—“When staying at Deep •Creek this summer, we saw a remarkable insect, with two pairs of wings spread down over its back. The lower part of the body we found to be a kind of sheath. -Along it there rested a- line saw, connected by a hing e to the centre of the body. The in,see! | clung by it® legs in an inverted posi--1 tion to a log. It began to make holes in th e wood between the bark. Its method was interesting to watch Doubling up its whole body, a.nd feeling for the wood, it pressed its 'little saw in and worked the saw up and down. We noticed that the saw was composed of two sections, working side by side. During ten or fifteen minutes while we watched, the insect made several holes. We but not see it place any egg s in the holes.”