THE PLUM SPHINX MOTH

Extract

As this moth pretty generally makes its appearance in our plum orchards from year to year, I have thought it advisable to give a short history of its different stages for the benefit of our fruit-growers.

It is a member of a family of moths to which the great naturalist Linnæus gave the name of Sphingidæ, on account of the resemblance he conceived some of their caterpillars bore, in certain positions, to the notorious Egyptian Sphinx, and which our artist has faithfully represented in the engraving of the larva—fig. 1. while the ravages caused by this caterpillar are fortunately not very extensive, yet it generally appears in different localities from time to time in numbers quite sufficient to cause considerable annoyance to the plum-growers of those regions.