Yesterday arvo Kris came into my room holding some creature with a piece of tissue. She asked, "This one, bite? Look dangerous ah." I took a look at it and a shiver - of excitement and fear - went up my spine. It was dead, but the skull-like mark on its back was still as chilling as ever. It was a Death's head hawk moth (Acherontia lachesis), and aptly named so. It's the type that's on the movie posters for The Silence of the Lambs. The Chinese believe that moths and butterflies are spirits of the dead, and when I told my mom of this moth in the house, she wasn't too happy. Being a Christian family though, we don't really pay much heed to such beliefs, but still, a part of our 'culture' lingers and disturbs our thoughts. Some animals carry a universal superstition, and a Death's head moth is thought to be a damned soul returning to a scene in its past.

Death's head hawk moth

The "death's head"

posted by Husky @ 8/17/2004 09:51:45 AM  |