4U2 Mr. G. A. K. Marsliall on 



25. EXPERIJIENTAL EVIDENCE OF TERROR CAUSED BY 



THE Squeak of Acherontia atropos. (G. A. K. M.) 



[I had been tnkl by Mr. lloland Tiiiuen that the South 

 Atricau native races coininouly have a superstitious dread 

 of this moth, and I was anxious to know whether this was 

 the case in Rhodesia. The observation recorded below 

 indicates very clearly that the sound and the attitude are 

 the cause of the fear ; for it was inspired in a native who 

 had never before seen the moth. It is improbable that 

 the moth is distasteful, but its legs are very powerful, and 

 the spines on them sharp enough to cause an unpleasant 

 prick even to human fingers. The behaviour of the 

 Cerco^ntliecus is strong evidence that the sound possesses a 

 terrifying significance. — E. B. P.] 



Salishury, Jan. 11, 1901. — I was deeply interested in 

 your investigations into the sounds produced hy A. atropos, 

 but I regret to say that I have never gone into the subject 

 at all. The larva is fairly common with us, feeding on 

 Solanuvi and foxglove, but the imago is not often seen. 

 I showed one to some Mashonas the other day, and asked 

 them if they knew it. "Oh yes!" they said, "it's an 

 ' imveravdne ' [a general term for butterflies and moths] ; it 

 flies \ip in the air — whr-r-r-r — and the black man doesn't 

 know how to catch it ; only the white man can catch it." 

 When asked if it were noxious, they seemed surprised and 

 said, no, not at all. A Zulu replied in much the same 

 way, and seemed to liave no particular ideas about it. 

 Some Zambesis said they did not know it, and when I 

 suggested that it might be a " schelm" [a Dutch word for 

 anything noxious or obnoxious], they said no, and one of 

 tliem stepped forward and touched it with his finger. But 

 when it arched its back and squeaked loudly, he jumped 

 back in a fright saying : " Oh yes, boss, that's a ' skellem ' 

 right enough." I finally gave the insect to my monkey 

 {(Jcrcop)ithccus piygcrtiihrns^, making it squeak while doing 

 so. He was evidently struck by the sound, and after 

 watching a few inoments grabbed it from my hand, bit off 

 its head, and threw it down violently. He then approached 

 cautiously, and began pulling it to pieces in a nervous 

 spasmodic waj'-, evidently fearing to get stung or bitten 

 evciy moment ; on tasting one of the bits he found it palat- 

 able and proceeded to eat it all. I should imagine that 

 the curious movements and squeak of the moth are of a 



