Death's-Head Hawkmoths🦋💀

With a 4 ½ inches wingspan, death's-head hawkmoths are one of the most underrated (and largest) insects in the whole of the UK - and in this edition of Pernature, I will show you why. From their beehive-raiding habits to their peculiar squeaking alarm call, these hawkmoths are not only one of the biggest of their kind but are by far the most unique and fill an ecological niche filled by no other moth. So, let's dive into the story of this peculiar insect; their strange diet, interesting behaviours, and where you can find them in the UK.

Appearance

Death's-head hawk moths were given their spectacular name in the 19th century, due to their skull-like marking on their thorax - a striking white pattern that makes them famous across their native range and beyond. While on some individuals this pattern is clearly outlined and well-defined, it's not perfectly uniform across all individuals. Other than this main feature, the rest of the body is covered with browns, greys and blacks - unless they open their wings, with which you'll be met with a vivid yellow-orange. Additionally, on the abdomen, if not covered by the wings, there is a striking black-and-yellow stripes pattern .However, of course the main attraction to this species is their striking skull-pattern on their thorax... so, a question arises - why do they have these strange markings in the first place? Well this curious formation of scales is thought to be used to confuse predators - like the eye spots on other moths and butterflies. When viewed from above, a predator such as a bat or bird may see the skull marking and assume it is a larger animal, and hence scaring them away or at least discouraged from eating them! All three distinct species - the greater, lesser and African (the species found in Britain) - are covered in a fine covering of hair, or 'fluff''.

Fun fact

If their skull-marking doesn't work, they have a second defence strategy - by emitting a squeaking sound from their proboscis!

Diet and Migration

Unlike other moths, they have a unusual diet of... honey. They do this by raiding beehives, mimicking their pheromones to slip past them and feed on their honey! In some places, they even become a pest to beehive owners - but in Britain, often they don't occur in high enough densities for this to happen. Another interesting fact the separates them from most moths, is that they migrate - sometimes up to 4,000 kilometres or more - from Africa to Europe, and back again! They migrate up from Africa, and over multiple generations, make it up into Europe. They come here to lay eggs, however almost all of them don't hatch in our cold climate. This journey, though often through multiple generations, takes on average 57 million wingbeats - the equivalent of us travelling round the Earth three times!

Mythology and Folklore

The Death's Head Hawk Moth has rich folklore across Europe and the rest of the world. In much of Europe, these moths were seen as a harbinger of war, and that if one entered a candlelit room of your house, a death would occur in the household. In France, it was believed that if dust from their wings got into your eye you would go blind; and in England, when King Charles I was sentenced to death, the moth was said to have been seen in Britain for the first time - becoming tied to royal doom. They don't just represent death in folklore - but in fiction too. In Macbeth, the moth is a warning of doom; In Harry Potter, they are the mascot of the Death Eaters; and three moths found in King George's chamber were said to push him to insanity. In the Silence of the Lambs, the killer left pupa of death's head hawkmoths in the throats of his victims - chosen for their creepy squeaking, representing the last scream let out of his victims before they met their gruesome end. In North American mythology they were seen as a bad omen or messenger - for example, in Native American tradition they were thought to carry messages from the dead, and in Caribbean Folklore finding one meant your death was near.

Quick Facts

Season: August - October

Diet: Honey

Predators: Nightjars, owls, shrikes, large songbirds. Occasionally found dead in beehives; showing their mimicry isn't error-free

Wingspan: 4.5-5.2 inches

Length: 2-3 inches
Lifespan: 4-8 weeks as an adult

Found across: Southern Europe, Africa, Asia, Northern and Central Americas

The caterpillar of this 'otherworldly' moth

A species fuelling folklore and myths for thousands of years, these moths - some of the largest in Britain - are an amazing species. While I've never seen one personally, I find them to be fascinating creatures - even featuring on the bus stop in my village that has been painted with dozens of British species. Next edition we'll be diving into the water of the Atlantic to uncover a strange relationship between two cetacean species, and how this unlikely alliance is acting as a resistance to the ocean's most feared predator...

Thanks for reading, Isaacp

Per[Nature] 🌿

Ecological niche - the role a species plays in an ecosystem - what or how it eats, how it interacts with other species, the climate it needs, where it lives and any other way it lives.

Search This Blog

Pernature with Isaac