Butterfly as Messenger of Death

[Doug Dawn]

In Mexico, we have a very large moth with a wide range (probably gets to
10-12" wingspan) which is called "Mariposa de la Muerte" (translated to
Butterfly of Death, and by many beileved to be a butterfly) by many, though
I don't think it is taken so seriously these days like the Aruban.

The moth is identified easily by a beautiful silvery gray crecent moon
shape on the hind wings, where the quarter (US) sized crecent has a
protruding form in the middle making it look like a greek epsilon.

I can get you the classification if that is important, or maybe another
list member knows it off hand.  A month ago I found 10 of them piled up in
the corner of my apartment.  They are quite skilled at getting into houses
at night and quite impressive to look at.

Best wishes.  Doug Dawn.

Gerald Mines wrote:

> Hi,
>
> The following request for information was posted to another butterfly
> forum that I participate in.  I thought perhaps there could be someone
> on Leps-L that could provide information on this "Butterfly 'O Death"
>
> > Hi everybody,
> > today I was totally surprised by a beautiful butterfly that had taken
> > a laundrybasket in the back of my garden as its residence. It was as
> > big as my (womens') hand and was really perfectly dressed in a
> > black/grey/white "dress".  I live on the Island Aruba, in the
> > Carribean and I had never seen such a big wonderful butterfly before.
> > I shouted out for my maid, who is local, and asked her if she knew
> > what kind of butterfly it was. She went pale and shaky. She told me
> > the butterfly was the messenger of death and then she informed me
> > about several cases in her family where such insect was seen just
> > before the death of a dear friend or family member. Where they sit:
> > the closer to your house, the closer to your heart.  I am not really
> > supersticious, but I do believe in signs and signals. I've tried to
> > find out on the internet and in our enceclopaedia's, but I couln't
> > find anything about this "butterfly of death".  Is there somebody who
> > can tell me more about this butterfly and the story behind the
> > 'death-thing'?
>
> Any info on the species of butterfly and any details on the local
> superstition surrounding this butterfly would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Gerald Mines
> Omaha, Nebraska
> http://www.tconl.com/~mines

--
________________________
Douglas David Dawn
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/4048/
Dawn Photo
http://members.tripod.com/dawnphoto/
N.  25º 37.408'
W. 100º 22.003'
Altitude 910 meters
Sylvania Pinus-Quercus