S P H I N X C R A N T O R .
MUSCADINE SPHINX.
V I T IS V U L P IN A . L IN N i FOX GRAPE, MUSCADINE OR BULLAGE GRAPE.
S. alis integris jfufcis luteo lineatis nigro maculatis: poftieis difeo rubrisj thorace utrinque
macula deltoideS atro-ferrugindi..
Sphinx Crantor. Cretin. Pap. t. 104. f A. Fair. Entorii. emend. V. 4. 875.
Feeds on the Mufcadine or Bullace grape, and the wild grape. W h e n young th e
caterpillar has a h o rn on its tail, wh ich is curved forward over its back like the tail
o f a dog. W h e n th e Ikin is fhed for th e laft time this h o rn comes off w ith it,
leaving only a fmall protuberance, and th e colour o f the whole animal changes. It
is a rare kind. One o f them ihed its lkin Ju n e 25th, w e n t into th e g round Ju ly
6th, and the fly Came fo rth th e 7 th o f May following. .
We have been much tempted to change Cramer’s trivial name of this fpeeies, though we
could not conveniently give one from its food, almoft every denomination derived from the:
Vine being preoccupied; and indeed thofe which, though different, apply nearly to the fame
thing, as Fitts, Labrufcee, and pampinatrix, ought not to be too much multiplied for fear of
bewildering the memory. We would therefore have given a name defcriptive of the animal’s
appearance, as tejfellata. Such are in the power of every body, even o f thofe who know the
infedl in cabinets only without being acquainted with its hiftory; and authors cannot be too
ftrongly recommended to give fuch the preference to any random denominations. If Linnaeus
has fet the example of applying proper names to infedts, he has generally done it with judgment
and meaning, as Sphinx Atropos and Elpenor; and the original names of Fabricius are
for the molt part given with admirable tafte and ingenuity; but what has the Grecian phi-
lofopher Crantor to do with the moth'before us ?