. Handbook of nature-study for teachers and parents, based on the Cornell nature-study leaflets. Nature study. THE HUMMINGBIRD. OR SPHINX, MOTHS Teacher's Story 'F during the early evening, when all the swift hum- ming birds are abed, we hear the whirr of rapidly moving wings and detect the blur of them in the twilight, as if the creature carried by them hung entranced before some deep-throated flower, and then whizzed away like a bullet, we know that it was a hummingbird, or sphinx, moth. And when we see a caterpillar with a horn on the wrong end of the body, a caterpillar which, when disturb
. Handbook of nature-study for teachers and parents, based on the Cornell nature-study leaflets. Nature study. THE HUMMINGBIRD. OR SPHINX, MOTHS Teacher's Story 'F during the early evening, when all the swift hum- ming birds are abed, we hear the whirr of rapidly moving wings and detect the blur of them in the twilight, as if the creature carried by them hung entranced before some deep-throated flower, and then whizzed away like a bullet, we know that it was a hummingbird, or sphinx, moth. And when we see a caterpillar with a horn on the wrong end of the body, a caterpillar which, when disturbed, rears threateningly, then we may know it is the sphinx larva. And when we find a strange, brown seg- mented shell, with a long jug handle at one side, buried in the earth as we spade up the garden in the spring, then we know we have the sphinx pupa. The sphinx was a vaudeville person of ancient mythology who went about boring people by asking them riddles; and, if they could not give the right answers, very promptly ate them up. Although Linnaeus gave the name of sphinx to these moths, because he fancied he saw a resem- blance in the resting or threatening attitude of the larvae to the Egyptian Sphinx, there are still other resemblances. These insects present three riddles: The first one is, "Am I a humming-bird?" the second, "Why do I wear a horn or an eye-spot on the rear end of my body where horns and eyes are surely useless?" and the third, "Why do I look like a jug with ahandle and no spout?" The sphinx moths are beautiful and elegant creatures. They have a distinctly tailor-made appearance, their colors are so genteel and "the cut" so perfect. They have long, rather narrow, strong wings which enable them to fly with extra- ordinary rapidity. The hind wings are shorter, but act as one with the front wings. The body is stout and spindle-shaped. The antennas are thickened in the middle or toward the tip, and in many species have th
Size: 1592px × 1570px
Photo credit: © Central Historic Books / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorcomstockannabotsford1, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910
