www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

This moth had recently expired when it was photographed this week in Cairo...

can you say what sort of moth it is ?

thanks in advance

Charles

It is the Bringer of Death, Himself.

Ironically.

Guy

I trust you celebrated this find with a nice Chianti.

Roger

... and some fava beans...

Guy

padfield wrote:It is the Bringer of Death, Himself

But which one is it; styx, medusa, lachesis, atropos..?

Felix.

I think only atropos flies in Egypt, but someone else might be able to confirm.

Guy

No - styx styx is also just found in Egypt. See:

http://tpittaway.tripod.com/china/a_sty.htm (styx styx)

http://tpittaway.tripod.com/china/a_med.htm (styx medusa)

http://tpittaway.tripod.com/china/a_lac.htm (lachesis)

and

http://tpittaway.tripod.com/china/a_atr.htm (atropos)

(scroll down on each page for distributions)

Guy

Thanks again my learned friends !!

The picture was taken at Zamalek in the grounds of a Cathedral... spooky or what ???

Charles



sorry i did not answer last night... i was having a friend for dinner

I had no idea there was more than one...

Ironic indeed

Cheers

Lee

Charles Nicol wrote:
sorry i did not answer last night... i was having a friend for dinner

Blimey! you must have been hungry. I've never been able to eat a whole one .

Vince

it was my friend Louis

Charles

Warning... Nerdy alert! ... I think I'm right in saying that although they depicted an adult Deaths Head Hawk moth in the posters for "Silence of the Lambs", the actual pupae they fished out of the victim's throats were more likely those of Convolvulus Hawk moths... there was a wide gap between the proboscis sheath and the main pupa in the film - in the Deaths Head Hawk moth pupa there is no gap at all.
...I'll get my coat.

Trev

Nerdier still...

The book mentions Acherontia styx but the moth depicted in the posters is (allegedly) Acherontia atropos (which is almost certainly also the species in Charles's original post).

Guy

Thanks for the intriguing nerdifications Trev & Guy...

Here you can see the posters for yourself....

http://posterwire.com/wp-content/images ... _lambs.jpg

Charles

I seem to remember that atropos is the species on the poster, but with the markings touched up by Salvador Dali to appear more 'spooky'

Being a total idiot I've only just worked out why it is called DHHM.
What a find Charles.

you are not an idiot Denise

glad you liked the moth

Charles

Unfortunately my brother is stuck in the capital Cairo. Fortunately he lives away from the main trouble areas but his job is right in the centre.
It is not a good time to be wandering around taking snapshots.

Hopefully he will stay at home for the next week or so.

Charles

You must be worried. What a time to be in Egypt.

When he's safely home again I'm sure he'll have lots of interesting stories to tell!

Guy

Hopefully he'll be okay. What's happening in Egypt right now is similar to what was going on in the dying days of Eastern European communism nearly 25 years ago.

If it's any consolation, I'd rather be a moth in Cairo right now than a human being.