''Acherontia lachesis'', the greater death's head hawkmoth or bee robber, is a large (up to 13 cm wingspan)

sphingid The Sphingidae are a family of moths commonly called sphinx moths, also colloquially known as hawk moths, with many of their caterpillars known as hornworms. It includes about 1,450 species. It is best represented in the tropics, but species ar ...

moth found in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and much of the East Asian region. It is one of the three species of

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 throughout Africa and in Europe, the latter t ...

genus, ''Acherontia''. The species was first described by

Johan Christian Fabricius Johann Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is co ...

in 1798. It is

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

and very fond of

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

; they can

mimic In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. In the simples ...

the

scent An odor (American English) or odour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is a smell or a scent caused by one or more volatilized ...

honey bee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the ...

s so that they can enter a hive unharmed to get honey. Their

tongue The tongue is a Muscle, muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for chewing and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper s ...

, which is stout and very strong, enables them to pierce the

wax Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give lo ...

cells and suck the honey out. This species occurs throughout almost the entire Oriental region, from

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, and from southern

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and the southern

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, where it attacks colonies of several different honey bee species. It has recently become established on the Hawaiian Islands. HorsfieldMoorCatalogueEastIndiaCompanyLepidopteraPlateIX

HorsfieldMoorCatalogueEastIndiaCompanyLepidopteraPlateIX

Description

''A. lachesis'' is much larger than ''

Acherontia styx ''Acherontia styx'', the lesser death's head hawkmoth or bee robber, is a sphingid moth found in Asia, one of the three species of death's-head hawkmoth. It is very fond of honey, and beekeepers have reported finding dead moths in their hives ...

''. The segmental bands and grey stripe occupy so much of the abdomen that only small patches of yellow are left. The hindwing has a large black patch at the base. The medial and post-medial bands are so broad that only narrow bands of yellow remain. The ventral side of the abdomen is banded with black and the wings are banded with black and have a spot in the cell of each. the larva differs from ''A. styx'' in having blue streaks above the yellow ones; before pupating it turns brown and the oblique streaks disappear.

Life history

Eggs are laid on a variety of host plants belonging to the families

Solanaceae Solanaceae (), commonly known as the nightshades, is a family of flowering plants in the order Solanales. It contains approximately 2,700 species, several of which are used as agricultural crops, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. Many me ...

Verbenaceae The Verbenaceae ( ), 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. T ...

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

Oleaceae Oleaceae, also known as the olive family or sometimes the lilac family, is a taxonomic family of flowering shrubs, trees, and a few lianas in the order Lamiales. It presently comprises 28 genera, one of which is recently extinct.Peter S. Gree ...

Bignoniaceae Bignoniaceae () is a Family (biology), family of flowering plants in the Order (biology), order Lamiales commonly known as the bignonias or trumpet vines.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant ...

, and others. Mature larvae can attain a length of 125 mm and occur in green, yellow and brownish-grey colour forms (most commonly grey), with oblique body stripes and a prickly tail horn that is curled at the extreme tip. When molested the caterpillar throws the head and anterior segments of the body from side to side, at the same time making a rapidly repeated clicking noise, which appears to be produced by the mandibles. The larva pupates by pushing its head into the earth, burying itself, and making an ovoid chamber about 15 cm below the surface in which it sheds its skin. File:C CATERPILLAR 28 september 2007 B (1728631296).jpg, Larva File:F CATERPILLAR 30 september 2007 B (1728631238).jpg, Larva burying itself to pupate under the soil File:M CATERPILLAR 02 October 2007 (1728545666).jpg, Pupating File:N PUPA 04 October 2007 (1727647735).jpg, Pupa File:O Pupa 18 October 2007 A (1727647717).jpg, Pupa File:Q Moth 23 October 2007 (1727647667).jpg, Emerging File:W Moth October 2007 H (1728306320).jpg, Imago (dorsal view) File:V Moth October 2007 I (1727498533).jpg, Imago (latera view) File:Acherontia lachesis MHNT Female Nîlgîri (Tamil Nadu) Dorsal.jpg, Female dorsal view (collected specimen) File:Acherontia lachesis MHNT Female Nîlgîri (Tamil Nadu) Ventral.jpg, Female ventral view (collected specimen) The larvae are often parasitised by tachinid flies.

Subspecies

*''Acherontia lachesis lachesis'' *''Acherontia lachesis diehli'' Eitschberger, 2003

Ecology

The moth rests with the wings folded with the abdomen completely covered. When disturbed it raises its body from the surface on which it is sitting and partially opens and raises its wings and emits a squealing note. Notable predators are mostly

parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...

s such as '' Amblyjoppa cognatoria'', '' Quandrus pepsoides'' and '' Drino atropivora''.

Host plants

In their distribution countries, caterpillars are found on variety of plants such as ''

Campsis grandiflora ''Campsis grandiflora'', commonly known as the Chinese trumpet vine, is a fast-growing, deciduous creeper with large, orange, trumpet-shaped flowers in summer. It can grow to a height of 10 meters. A native of East Asia, it is less hardy than its ...

'', ''

Jasminum Jasmine (botanical name: ''Jasminum'', pronounced ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family of Oleaceae. It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are wide ...

'', ''

Solanum tuberosum The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

'', ''

Nicotiana tabacum ''Nicotiana tabacum'', or cultivated tobacco, is an annually grown herbaceous plant of the genus ''Nicotiana''. ''N. tabacum'' is the most commonly grown species in the genus ''Nicotiana,'' as the plant's leaves are commercially harvested to be ...

'', ''

Tectona grandis Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panic ...

'', ''

Datura ''Datura'' is a genus of nine species of highly poisonous, Vespertine (biology), vespertine-flowering plants belonging to the nightshade family (Solanaceae). They are commonly known as thornapples or jimsonweeds, but are also known as devil's t ...

'', ''

Ipomoea batatas The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of the ...

'', '' Clerodendrum kaempferi'', '' Erythrina speciosa'', ''

Clerodendrum quadriloculare ''Clerodendrum quadriloculare'' (known as the bronze-leaved clerodendrum, fireworks plant, Philippine glorybower, shooting star or starburst bush in English, and or in Filipino) is a species of flowering plant native to New Guinea and the Phil ...

'', ''

Lantana camara ''Lantana camara'' (common lantana) is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family (Verbenaceae), native to the American tropics. It is a very adaptable species, which can inhabit a wide variety of ecosystems; once it has been introduced i ...

'', ''

Sesamum indicum Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalization (biology) , naturalized in tropical regions around the wor ...

'', ''

Solanum melongena Eggplant (American English, US, Canadian English, CA, Australian English, AU, Philippine English, PH), aubergine (British English, UK, Hiberno English, IE, New Zealand English, NZ), brinjal (Indian English, IN, Singapore English, SG, Malays ...

'', '' Solanum verbascifolium'', '' Stachytarpheta indica'', ''

Tithonia diversifolia ''Tithonia diversifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae that is commonly known as the tree marigold, Mexican tournesol, Mexican sunflower, Japanese sunflower or Nitobe chrysanthemum. It is native to Mexico and Central ...

'', ''

Solanum torvum ''Solanum torvum'', also known as pendejera, turkey berry, devil's fig, pea eggplant, platebrush or susumber, is a bushy, erect and spiny perennial plant used horticulturally as a rootstock for eggplant. Grafted plants are very vigorous and t ...

'', ''

Spathodea campanulata ''Spathodea'' is a genus in the plant family Bignoniaceae. The single species it contains, ''Spathodea campanulata'', is commonly known as the African tulip tree. The tree grows between tall and is native to tropical dry forests of Africa. It h ...

'', ''

Vitex pinnata ''Vitex pinnata'' is a tree of the family Lamiaceae. It is native to south and south east Asia. It grows slowly, ultimately reaching 20 metres in height with 1–3 m. circumference trunk. It features a grey-brown-yellow bark. Its leaves are scen ...

'', '' Psilogramma menophron'' and '' Clerodendrum inerme''. ''A. lachesis'' is not the species of death's head used in the promotional posters for ''The Silence of the Lambs''. That is ''

Acherontia atropos ''Acherontia atropos'', the African death's-head hawkmoth, is the most widely recognized of three species within the genus '' Acherontia'' (the other two being '' Acherontia lachesis'' and '' Acherontia styx''). It is most commonly identified by ...

''.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar , from=Q134724 Acherontiini Moths of Sri Lanka Moths described in 1798 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius