This is my moth appreciation post! :mrgreen:
Jo posted a photo of an interesting caterpillar she found on Facebook. Someone identified it as a type of moth, so I quickly started reading about it on Wikipedia. From there, I clicked on a link about another interesting species of moth called the "
Death's-head Hawkmoth". This moth has a pattern that looks like a little skull on its back. This type of moth emits a loud squeaking noise when irritated and raids beehives for honey by mimicking the scent of honeybees. I had no idea that there were moths that could do that. They're found primarily in Europe and Asia.
Due to the "skull" on its back, these moths have been associated with evil and the supernatural. They're mentioned in Bram Stoker's Dracula, a short story by Edgar Allen Poe, and in the movie, "The Silence of the Lambs". There's even a legend that the moths were first sighted in Britain upon the execution of King Charles I. (
Wikipedia)
