Deaths Head Hawk larva - Acherontia atropos

Acherontia atropos - The skull-like pattern and its associations with the supernatural and evil have fostered superstitious fears of Acherontia atropos. The moths' sharp, mouse-like squeaking intensify this effect. During the mid 19th century entomologist Edward Newman, having earlier mentioned the mark on the thorax wrote: "However, let the cause of the noise be what it may, the effect is to produce the most superstitious feelings among the uneducated, by whom it is always regarded with feelings of awe and terror."