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Hi, I found this large (~5" wingspan) moth in our beach hotel in Playa del
Carmen, Mexico in late December. I’m guessing it’s a saturniid but can’t find any pictures to narrow it down. Can you help? I’ve been searching the Web for hours! Gracias,
Liz Gerson

Hi Liz,
The reason you couldn’t find the Black Witch, Ascalapha odorata, is because it isn’t a Saturnid, but a Noctuid, one of the Owlet Moths.

Wow, thank you so much! It was really “bugging” me that I couldn’t find it. Now I am finding there’s some scary mythology about this moth in Mexico. It’s an interesting critter.
Mythology from http://texasento.net/witch.htm
“The Black Witch has a fascinating cultural as well as natural history. Known in Mexico by the Indians since Aztec times as mariposa de la muerte (butterfly of death). When there is sickness in a house and this moth enters, the sick person dies. (Hoffmann 1918) A variation on this theme heard in the lower Rio Grande Valley (Southmost Texas) is that death only occurs if the moth flies in and visits all four corners of one’s house. Merlmn & Vasquez (2002) point out that the number four is important in Mesoamerica because of its relationship with the four cardinal directions (east, west, north and south). The moth was known among the Mexicans as Micpapalotl, the butterfly of death. In Mesoamerica, from the prehispanic era until the present time nocturnal butterflies have been associated with death and the number four. In some parts of Mexico, people joke that if one flies over someone’s head, the person will lose his hair. Still another myth: seeing one means that someone has put a curse on you! In Hawaii, Black Witch mythology, though associated with death, has a happier note in that if a loved one has just died, the moth is an embodiment of the person’s soul returning to say goodbye. On Cat Island, Bahamas, they are locally known as Money Moths or Moneybats, and the legend is that if they land on you, you will come into money. Similarly in South Texas if a Black Witch lands above your door and stays there for a while you would win the lottery! Note: the Black Witch moth does not bite, sting, nor carry diseases. It has only a straw-like proboscis or tongue to drink flower nectar through. It is perfectly harmless though it might cause one to be quite startled if flushed from its daytime hiding place.”
Thanks again,
Liz

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