AN UNFAMILIAR INSECT.
[To THE EDITOR Or TEE " SPECTATOR2] SIR,—Can any of your readers help us to identify a curious and beautiful insect which appeared in our garden last week? It was about It inches long, with a smooth, greyish body, a curious feathery tail (shaped like a turkey's), black and white, and a pair of fanlike wings of a lovely amber colour. It has two large antennae, and a very long spear-like proboscis, with which it was puncturing a verbena. Its darting spasmodic movements made it very difficult to watch or examine, but its general appearance was like a tiny humming bird. This very hot, dry summer has brought some interesting visitors to this neighbourhood, a pair of hoopoes having nested in a garden at llythe, and this very ornamental creature may be something
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