THE NIGHT SIDE OF NATURE 83 



magnificent caterpillar, and gave it the specific 

 name of atropos, in allusion to the popular super- 

 stition, Atropos being, according to Hesiod, the one 

 of the fates whose office it was to cut the thread of 

 human life, spun by her sisters, Clotho and Lachesis. 

 Modern entomologists have preserved the idea of 

 Linnaeus, giving to the new genus the name of 

 acherontia " pertaining to Acheron," one of the 

 streams which, in the Greek mythology, have to be 

 passed before entering the infernal regions. The low, 

 wailing sound which this insect emits has greatly 

 added to the terror which its appearance inspires 

 among ignorant rustics. The death's-head moth 

 is a really splendid insect. Its stretched wings cover 

 four and a half inches, and it is the largest of the 

 British Lepidoptera. As is well known, it has its 

 popular name from a marvellously good representa- 

 tion of a skull and crossbones upon the upper part 

 of the thorax a mark which has caused it to be an 

 object of dread in every country which it inhabits. 

 Fluttering at the window in the darkness, or entering 

 the house by the open door, just after the close of 

 twilight, it is considered a certain omen of death. 

 Like the hoarse croak of the raven, and the " boding " 

 hoot of the owl, the appearance of this moth is said 

 to be followed by disease and disaster. The power, 

 possessed by the death's-head insect, of emitting a 

 shrill, creaking sound, is thought to be unique among 



