The Science of the Lambs: The Moth Behind the Movie

The Silence of the Lambs has been one of my favorite movies since it came out in the early 90s. I was a kid at the time, and probably too young to watch it, but it enthralled me nonetheless.

It wasn't the terrifying cannibal Hannibal Lecter or the creepy serial killer Buffalo Bill that fascinated me - it was the moths.

In the movie, Buffalo Bill left a moth pupa as a grisly calling card at each of his murder scenes.

Mystery abounds as to the exact identity of the "moth behind the movie", but we do know it's a "Death's Head Hawkmoth" because of the appearance of a skull-like image on its thorax.

There are three different species of the Death's Head Hawkmoth within the genus Acherontia (Acherontia atropos, Acherontia styx and Acherontia lachesis). The former species is found in Europe and throughout Africa, the latter two are Asian.

Below you can see a close-up of the awesome skull-image on an African Death's Head Hawkmoth from my personal collection.

Close up of "skull" on thorax

An article by Butterfly Conservation, goes into great specifics on each of these species, and which ones were used in the movie - I highly recommend reading it if you're into this stuff like I am.

But one fact that I found particularly fascinating (and funny) from the article, was that the "the Death's-head Hawk-moths first brought in for filming proved to be Hollywood divas – they became too cold and couldn’t be used. Lookalike adult moths (M. sexta) were obtained and put in costume made of painted fake nails cut into shapes and glued on. Unfortunately, the moths couldn't fly because the glue was too stiff. Eventually, a more flexible glue was found. The moths were also attached to sticks with special string so they could be controlled and to make it look like the moths were flying."

Outside of Hollywood, these moths have several cool behavioral characteristics. All three species have the ability to emit a loud chirping sound if annoyed.

According to sources on Wikipedia, the sound is produced by inhaling and expelling air, which vibrates the epipharynx like an accordion, often accompanied by flashing of the brightly colored abdomen in a further attempt to deter predators.

A study by National Geographic found that the epipharynx was originally built to suck up honey, but later evolved to produce sound.

Adults of all three species are commonly observed raiding beehives of different species of honey bee. They can move about in hives without being disturbed because they mimic the scent of the bees and are not recognized as intruders.

The skull-like image and its intense chirping sound, have made this moth the subject of superstition and caused people to fear them. In fact, these moths are incredibly beautiful and completely harmless.

As Hannibal Lector would say, "the world's far too interesting a place with them in it."

References: https://butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blog/just-what-is-hannibal-lecters-link-with-moths

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death%27s-head_hawkmoth