Acherontia atropos
Encyclopedia
Acherontia atropos is the most widely-known of the three species of Death's-head Hawk moth
. Acherontia species are notorious mainly for a vaguely skull
-shaped pattern on the thorax
.
. The upper wings are brown with slight yellow wavy lines; the lower wings are yellow with some wide brown waves. It rests during the day on trees or in the litter, holding the wings like a tent over the body.
The moth also has numerous other unusual features. It has the ability to emit a loud squeak if irritated. The sound is produced by expelling air from its proboscis
. It often accompanies this sound with flashing its brightly marked abdomen in a further attempt to deter its predators. It is commonly observed raiding beehives
for honey at night. Unlike the other species of Acherontia, it only attacks colonies of the well-known Western honey bee, Apis mellifera. It is attacked by guard bees at the entrance, but the thick cuticle and resistance to venom allow it to enter the hive. It is able to move about in hives unmolested because it mimics the scent of the bees.
The British
entomological journal Atropos
takes its name from this species.
and the Mediterranean region, much of Africa down to the southern tip, and increasingly as far north as southern Great Britain
due to recently mild British winters. It occurs as far east as Kuwait
and western Saudi Arabia
, and as far west as the Canary Islands
and Azores
. It invades western Eurasia frequently, although few individuals successfully overwinter.
: potato
especially, but also Physalis
and other nightshades. However it also has been recorded on members of the Verbenaceae
, e.g. Lantana
, and on members of the families Cannabaceae
, Oleaceae
, and others. The larvae are stout with a posterior horn, as is typical of larvae of the Sphingidae. Most sphingid larvae however, have fairly smooth posterior horns, possibly with a simple curve, either upward or downward. In contrast, Acherontia species and certain relatives bear a posterior horn embossed with round projections about the thicker part. The horn itself bends downwards near the base, but curls upwards towards the tip.
The newly-hatched larva starts out a light shade of green but darkens after feeding, with yellow stripes diagonally on the sides. In the second instar
, it has thorn-like horns on the back. In the third instar, purple or blue edging develops on the yellow stripes and the tail horn turns from black to yellow. In the final instar, the thorns disappear and the larva may adopt one of three color morphs: green, brown, or yellow. Larvae do not move much, and will click their mandibles or even bite if threatened, though the bite is effectivly harmless to the human skin. The larva grows to about 120–130 mm, and pupates in an underground chamber. The pupa is smooth and glossy with the proboscis fused to the body, as in most Lepidoptera.
s to the effect that the moth brings bad luck to the house into which it flies, and that death or grave misfortune
may be expected to follow. More prosaically, in South Africa
at least, uninformed people have claimed that the moth has a poisonous, often fatal, sting (possibly referring mainly to the proboscis, but sometimes to the horn on the posterior of the larva).
Acherontia atropos has been featured in art (notably in The Hireling Shepherd
), Bram Stoker's "Dracula
" and in movies, notably in Un chien andalou
and the promotional marquee posters for The Silence of the Lambs. In the latter film the moth is used as a calling card
by the serial killer "Buffalo Bill", though the movie script refers to Acherontia styx
, and the moths that appear in the film are Acherontia atropos. In The Mothman Prophecies
this moth is referred to. It also appears in the music video to Massive Attack
's single, "Butterfly Caught."
The Death's-head moth is mentioned in Susan Hill
's gothic horror novel, I'm the King of the Castle
as it is used to instil fear in one of the young protagonists.
John Keats mentioned the moth as a symbol of death in his Ode to Melancholy, "Make not your rosary of yew-berries, / Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be / Your mournful Psyche".
In José Saramago
's novel Death With Interruptions
, Acherontia atropos appears on the American edition's cover, and is a topic that two characters mull over.
Death's-head Hawkmoth
The name Death's-head Hawkmoth refers to any one of the three species of moth in the genus Acherontia. The former species is primarily found in Europe, the latter two are Asian, and most uses of the common name refer to the European species...
. Acherontia species are notorious mainly for a vaguely skull
Human skull
The human skull is a bony structure, skeleton, that is in the human head and which supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.In humans, the adult skull is normally made up of 22 bones...
-shaped pattern on the thorax
Thorax
The thorax is a division of an animal's body that lies between the head and the abdomen.-In tetrapods:...
.
Appearance
Acherontia atropos is a large hawk moth with a wingspan of 90–130 mm (about 3.5 to 5 inches), being the largest moth in some of the regions in which it occurs. The adult has the typical streamlined wings and body of the hawk moth family, SphingidaeSphingidae
Sphingidae is a family of moths , commonly known as hawk moths, sphinx moths and hornworms, that includes about 1,200 species . It is best represented in the tropics but there are species in every region . They are moderate to large in size and are distinguished among moths for their rapid,...
. The upper wings are brown with slight yellow wavy lines; the lower wings are yellow with some wide brown waves. It rests during the day on trees or in the litter, holding the wings like a tent over the body.
The moth also has numerous other unusual features. It has the ability to emit a loud squeak if irritated. The sound is produced by expelling air from its proboscis
Proboscis
A proboscis is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In simpler terms, a proboscis is the straw-like mouth found in several varieties of species.-Etymology:...
. It often accompanies this sound with flashing its brightly marked abdomen in a further attempt to deter its predators. It is commonly observed raiding beehives
Beehive (beekeeping)
A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus Apis live and raise their young. Natural beehives are naturally occurring structures occupied by honeybee colonies, while domesticated honeybees live in man-made beehives, often in an apiary. These man-made...
for honey at night. Unlike the other species of Acherontia, it only attacks colonies of the well-known Western honey bee, Apis mellifera. It is attacked by guard bees at the entrance, but the thick cuticle and resistance to venom allow it to enter the hive. It is able to move about in hives unmolested because it mimics the scent of the bees.
The British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
entomological journal Atropos
Atropos (journal)
Atropos is a UK-based journal for specialists in Lepidoptera and Odonata. It takes its name from the scientific name of the Death's-head Hawkmoth, Acherontia atropos.It was first published in May 1996....
takes its name from this species.
Distribution
Acherontia atropos occurs throughout the Middle EastMiddle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and the Mediterranean region, much of Africa down to the southern tip, and increasingly as far north as southern Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
due to recently mild British winters. It occurs as far east as Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
and western Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, and as far west as the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
and Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
. It invades western Eurasia frequently, although few individuals successfully overwinter.
Development
There are several generations of Acherontia atropos per year, with continuous broods in Africa. In the northern parts of its range the species overwinters in the pupal stage. Eggs are laid singly under old leaves of SolanaceaeSolanaceae
Solanaceae are a family of flowering plants that include a number of important agricultural crops as well as many toxic plants. The name of the family comes from the Latin Solanum "the nightshade plant", but the further etymology of that word is unclear...
: potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
especially, but also Physalis
Physalis
Physalis is a genus of plants in the nightshade family , native to warm temperate and subtropical regions throughout the world. The genus is characterised by the small orange fruit similar in size, shape and structure to a small tomato, but partly or fully enclosed in a large papery husk derived...
and other nightshades. However it also has been recorded on members of the Verbenaceae
Verbenaceae
Verbenaceae, commonly known as the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell.Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that...
, e.g. Lantana
Lantana
Lantana is a genus of about 150 species of perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in numerous areas, especially in the Australian-Pacific region. The genus includes both...
, and on members of the families Cannabaceae
Cannabaceae
Cannabaceae are a small family of flowering plants. As now circumscribed, the family includes about 170 species grouped in about 11 genera, including Cannabis , Humulus and Celtis...
, Oleaceae
Oleaceae
Oleaceae are a family containing 24 extant genera and around 600 species of mesophytic shrubs, trees and occasionally vines. As shrubs, members of this family may be twine climbers, or scramblers.-Leaves:...
, and others. The larvae are stout with a posterior horn, as is typical of larvae of the Sphingidae. Most sphingid larvae however, have fairly smooth posterior horns, possibly with a simple curve, either upward or downward. In contrast, Acherontia species and certain relatives bear a posterior horn embossed with round projections about the thicker part. The horn itself bends downwards near the base, but curls upwards towards the tip.
The newly-hatched larva starts out a light shade of green but darkens after feeding, with yellow stripes diagonally on the sides. In the second instar
Instar
An instar is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each molt , until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or assume a new form. Differences between instars can often be seen in altered body proportions, colors, patterns, or...
, it has thorn-like horns on the back. In the third instar, purple or blue edging develops on the yellow stripes and the tail horn turns from black to yellow. In the final instar, the thorns disappear and the larva may adopt one of three color morphs: green, brown, or yellow. Larvae do not move much, and will click their mandibles or even bite if threatened, though the bite is effectivly harmless to the human skin. The larva grows to about 120–130 mm, and pupates in an underground chamber. The pupa is smooth and glossy with the proboscis fused to the body, as in most Lepidoptera.
Folklore
In spite of the fact that Acherontia atropos is perfectly harmless except as a minor pest to crops and to beehives, the fancied skull pattern has burdened the moth with a negative reputation, such as associations with the supernatural and evil. There are numerous superstitionSuperstition
Superstition is a belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any process in the physical world linking the two events....
s to the effect that the moth brings bad luck to the house into which it flies, and that death or grave misfortune
Misfortune
Misfortune is an Italian fairy tale, from Palermo, collected by Italo Calvino in his Italian Folktales.Another telling of the tale appears under the title Unfortunate in A Book of Enchantments and Curses, by Ruth Manning-Sanders.-Synopsis:...
may be expected to follow. More prosaically, in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
at least, uninformed people have claimed that the moth has a poisonous, often fatal, sting (possibly referring mainly to the proboscis, but sometimes to the horn on the posterior of the larva).
Acherontia atropos has been featured in art (notably in The Hireling Shepherd
The Hireling Shepherd
The Hireling Shepherd is a painting by the Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt. It represents a shepherd neglecting his flock in favour of an attractive country girl to whom he shows a death's-head hawkmoth...
), Bram Stoker's "Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
" and in movies, notably in Un chien andalou
Un chien andalou
Un Chien Andalou is a 1929 silent surrealist short film by the Spanish director Luis Buñuel and artist Salvador Dalí. It was Buñuel's first film and was initially released in 1929 to a limited showing in Paris, but became popular and ran for eight months....
and the promotional marquee posters for The Silence of the Lambs. In the latter film the moth is used as a calling card
Calling card (crime)
A calling card is a particular object sometimes left behind by a criminal at a scene of a crime, often as a way of taunting police or obliquely claiming responsibility. The name is derived from the cards that people used to show they had been to visit someone's house when the resident was absent...
by the serial killer "Buffalo Bill", though the movie script refers to Acherontia styx
Acherontia styx
Acherontia styx is a Sphingid moth found in Asia, one of the three species of Death's-head Hawkmoth, also known as the Bee Robber. It is very fond of honey and bee keepers have reported to have found dead moths in their hives as a result of bee stings. They can mimic the scent of bees so that they...
, and the moths that appear in the film are Acherontia atropos. In The Mothman Prophecies
The Mothman Prophecies (film)
The Mothman Prophecies is a 2002 psychological horror film directed by Mark Pellington, based on the 1975 book of the same name by parapsychologist and Fortean author John Keel. The screenplay was written by Richard Hatem...
this moth is referred to. It also appears in the music video to Massive Attack
Massive Attack
Massive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
's single, "Butterfly Caught."
The Death's-head moth is mentioned in Susan Hill
Susan Hill
Susan Hill is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include The Woman in Black, The Mist in the Mirror and I'm the King of the Castle for which she received the Somerset Maugham Award in 1971....
's gothic horror novel, I'm the King of the Castle
I'm the King of the Castle (novel)
I’m the King of the Castle is a novel written by Susan Hill, originally published in 1970. The French film Je suis le seigneur du château is loosely based on the novel.-Plot summary:...
as it is used to instil fear in one of the young protagonists.
John Keats mentioned the moth as a symbol of death in his Ode to Melancholy, "Make not your rosary of yew-berries, / Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be / Your mournful Psyche".
In José Saramago
José Saramago
José de Sousa Saramago, GColSE was a Nobel-laureate Portuguese novelist, poet, playwright and journalist. His works, some of which can be seen as allegories, commonly present subversive perspectives on historic events, emphasizing the human factor. Harold Bloom has described Saramago as "a...
's novel Death With Interruptions
Death with Interruptions (novel)
Death with Interruptions, published in Britain as Death at Intervals, is a novel written by José Saramago. First released in 2005 in its original Portuguese, the novel was subsequently translated by Margaret Jull Costa in 2008....
, Acherontia atropos appears on the American edition's cover, and is a topic that two characters mull over.