The
erebid moth ''Ascalapha odorata'', commonly known as the black witch, is a large bat-shaped, dark-colored nocturnal moth, normally ranging from the southern
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
to
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. ''Ascalapha odorata'' is also migratory into Canada and most states of
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is the largest
noctuoid in the continental United States. In the folklore of many Central American cultures, it is associated with death or misfortune.
Physical description
Female moths can attain a wingspan of 24 cm. The dorsal surfaces of their wings are mottled brown with hints of iridescent purple and pink, and, in females, crossed by a white bar. The diagnostic marking is a small spot on each forewing shaped like a number nine or a comma. This spot is often green with orange highlights. Males are somewhat smaller, reaching 12 cm in width, darker in color and lacking the white bar crossing the wings. The larva is a large caterpillar up to 7 cm in length with intricate patterns of black and greenish-brown spots and stripes.
Geographical range
![Black Witch Moths Kaua’i](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Black_Witch_Moths_Kaua%E2%80%99i.jpg)
The black witch lives from the
southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
to
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, and has apparently been introduced to
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
.
Adults feed on overripe
rainforest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
fruit, especially
bananas
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
, and larvae consume the leaves of plants. Most of its host plants are
legumes
A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock fo ...
. It favors ''
Acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...
'' species,
Kentucky coffeetree
The Kentucky coffeetree (''Gymnocladus dioicus''), also known as American coffee berry, Kentucky mahogany, nicker tree, and stump tree, is a tree in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the legume family Fabaceae, native to the Midwest, Upper South, ...
(''Gymnocladus dioicus''), and
candle bush
''Senna alata'' is an important medicinal tree, as well as an ornamental flowering plant in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. It also known as emperor's candlesticks, candle bush, candelabra bush, Christmas candles, empress candle plant, ringworm ...
(''Senna alata''). It attacks
mesquite
Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus ''Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas.
They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under grou ...
and
ficus
''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending in ...
, and can be an agricultural pest.
The black witch flies north during late spring and summer. One was caught during an owl banding project at the Whitefish Point lighthouse on the shoreline of Lake Superior in July 2020.
Folklore and mythology
The black witch is considered a harbinger of death in Mexican and Caribbean folklore. In many cultures, one of these moths flying into the house is considered bad luck: e.g., in
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, when there is sickness in a house and this moth enters, it is believed the sick person will die, though a variation on this theme (in the lower
Rio Grande Valley
The Lower Rio Grande Valley ( es, Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. The ...
, Texas) is that death only occurs if the moth flies in and visits all four corners of one's house (in Mesoamerica, from the pre-Hispanic era until the present time, moths have been associated with death and the number four). In some parts of Mexico, people joke that if one flies over someone's head, the person will lose his hair.
In
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
, under the name ''duppy bat'', the black witch is seen as the embodiment of a lost soul or a soul not at rest. In Jamaican English, the word ''duppy'' is associated with malevolent spirits returning to inflict harm upon the living and ''bat'' refers to anything other than a bird that flies. The word "duppy" (also: "duppie") is also used in other West Indian countries, generally meaning "ghost".
In
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
it is called "mariposa-bruxa", "mariposa-negra", "bruxa-negra", and "bruxa, and it is also believed that when a moth of this type enters the house it can bring some “bad omen”, signaling the death of a resident. In the Ecuadorian highlands they are called Tandacuchi and in Peru Taparacuy or Taparaco. These countries share the belief that if this moth, a messenger of death, appears in your home, someone will die very soon.
In
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
, black witch mythology, though associated with death, has a happier note in that if a loved one has just died, the moth is an embodiment of the person's soul returning to say goodbye. In the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
, where they are locally known as money moths or money bats, the legend is that if they land on you, you will come into money, and similarly, in South
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, if a black witch lands above your door and stays there for a while, you will supposedly win the lottery.
The Black Witch Moth: Its Natural & Cultural History, by Mike Quinn
In
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
and
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, this insect is mostly known as "ura", and there is a popular belief that this moth urinates and leaves worms on the skin of people and animals. However, the insect that lays eggs in the skin and whose larvae become embedded in the flesh is the colmoyote or screwworm (''
Dermatobia hominis
The human botfly, ''Dermatobia hominis'' (Greek δέρμα, skin + βίος, life, and Latin '' hominis'', of a human), is a species of botfly whose larvae parasitise humans (in addition to a wide range of other animals, including other primates ...
'').
In Spanish, the black witch is known as "mariposa de la muerte" (Mexico and Costa Rica), "pirpinto de la yeta" (Argentina), "tara bruja" (Venezuela) or simply "mariposa negra" (Colombia); in
Nahuatl
Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...
(Mexico) it is "Miquipapalotl" or "Tepanpapalotl" (''miqui'' = death, black + ''papalotl'' = moth); in
Quechua
Quechua may refer to:
*Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru
*Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language
**So ...
(Peru) it is "Taparaco"; in
Mayan
Mayan most commonly refers to:
* Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Mayan languages, language family spoken ...
(Yucatán) it is "X-mahan-nah" (''mahan'' = to borrow + ''nah'' = house). Other names for the moth include the papillion-devil, la sorcière noire, the mourning moth or the sorrow moth.
In popular culture
Black witch moth
pupa
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...
e were placed in the mouths of victims of serial killer 'Buffalo Bill' in the novel ''
The Silence of the Lambs''.
In the movie adaptation, they were replaced by
death's-head hawkmoth
The name death's-head hawkmoth refers to any of three moth species of the genus ''Acherontia'' (''Acherontia atropos'', ''Acherontia styx'' and ''Acherontia lachesis''). The former species is found in Europe and throughout Africa, the latter t ...
pupae.
Related migratory moths
* ''
Thysania agrippina
''Thysania agrippina'' is a species of moth in the family Erebidae. It was described by Maria Sibylla Merian in her 1705 publication ''Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium,'' and Pieter Cramer provided the Species description, formal descripti ...
'' – white witch
* ''
Thysania zenobia
''Thysania zenobia'', the owl moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1776, and is native to North and South America and the Caribbean.
Description
Upperside: Antennae setaceous a ...
'' – owl moth
Ascalapha odorata larva.jpg, Larva
Black witch moth (Ascalapha odorata) on hand.jpg, On an adult's hand
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ascalapha Odorata
Thermesiini
Moths of North America
Moths of South America
Mexican folklore
Caribbean mythology
Hawaiian mythology
Superstitions of the United States
Jamaican culture
Superstitions of Mexico
Moths described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus