Tag: Black Witch Moth

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Black Witch Moth

Not a new one for me but rather an almost regular visitor every year and not just for Halloween! 🙂 And yes, some are black, but definitely not all of the Black Witch Moth, Ascalapha odorata (linked to my gallery) with some having the rich multi colors of this one on my bedroom drapes. When my maid swept the floor the next morning, he was one of several dead insects she swept up. And he is big! 8-10 inch wingspread!

Black Witch Moth, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Sad Day for America

What can I say when the majority of my home country just re-elected a criminal, fascist, racist, rapist, liar for president? I’m sure glad I moved to Costa Rica 10 years ago! Every great nation in history has fallen when it began to rot from within. Is that what is happening to the USA? It is not the country I grew up in, though I saw continuing movement this direction over the last 30 years. I will now spend my final days of life peacefully here in Costa Rica surrounded by nature and trying to ignore what used to be home. I wish all my friends and family in the states the best and believe you will survive as “this too shall pass.” And with you I will hope for a better future.

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Another Witch Visits!

Yeah, I have these Black Witch Moths visit my house almost every year and you can see at least 4 others in my Butterfly & Moth Gallery, found alphabetically as “Black Witch Moth.” And I obviously don’t believe the Latin Folklore that the appearance of one means death is coming to that house soon.

This one was on my bathroom wall at the ceiling last night and gone by this morning. To the naked eye it is very dark as this photo on my Canon SLR without a flash shows (only bathroom ceiling light on in the night). In February I shot one on my brown shower curtain with my cell phone and flash and if you go to that link you will see how much more colorful they are with more light or in the gallery there is also one with the Canon using the flash. Big difference! As light always brings!

As one visitor to my house said “I always see something scurrying away when I turn on the light during the night.” Well, living with strange wildlife is not for everyone, but I find it quite interesting and kind of fun when one is named a “Witch!”    🙂    Why, it even calls for a Halloween Cartoon I think:

Witch-Quiditch Cartoon

🙂

¡Pura Vida!

 

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I Showered with a Witch?

Well, a Black Witch Moth I discovered on the inside of my dark brown shower curtain (thus camouflaged) when I showered late morning after my itchy haircut. In my Butterfly & Moth Gallery  (and below) you will see 3 others photographed in other parts of my house earlier. Note that their dark colors make all 4 of them look different in different light. I had to use the flash on my cell phone camera for above shot. Just another one of the colorful surprises almost every day in Costa Rica.   🙂

Other Common Names

In Spanish the name is Mariposa de la Muerte,  “Butterfly of Death”

The Mayan people call the moth Mah-Ha-Na,  “May I borrow your house?” An allusion to the moths frequently entering people’s houses.    🙂  Like mine!

Mythology

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.

Merlin & 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 Mic Papalotl, the butterfly of death. In Mesoamerica, from the pre hispanic 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.

From website:  http://texasento.net/witch.htm

¡Pura Vida!

 

 

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Black Witch Moth

Black Witch Moth
On the ceiling of my covered terrace in Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica.
Wing span about 5 inches.

This guy is pretty common and one of the 8,000+ moths in Costa Rica and appears in all parts of the country. He is one of the best travelers, appearing from Florida to Brazil.

Here’s a photo of another one inside my house last November:
And an earlier one that matches the description except for the color but it is a Black Witch:
Maybe you would like one for your Halloween Party?

My Butterfly/Moth Photo Gallery   with 50 species!

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A New Black Witch Moth

Black Witch Moth, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
Inside my house on screen. I opened screen, shooed him out.

And this one is darker, though still not quite black!  🙂  And he was INSIDE my house.

Bee to the blossom, moth to the flame; Each to his passion; what’s in a name?

~Helen Hunt Jackson

And my photo galleries on:
Costa Rica Butterflies & Moths
Costa Rica Insects

Or all my Costa Rica Galleries together

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Black Witch Moth (Late for Halloween!)

Black Witch Moth, Atenas, Costa Rica
Outside of my bathroom window screen & photographed with flash at night

I know! It is not black! Though some can be black, gray, brown or other colors, this fits the description and matches photo in Butterflies, Moths, and Other Invertebrates of Costa Rica by Carol L. Henderson. I’ve seen one other of these earlier. They appear from Florida to Brazil and in every part of Costa Rica.

I am not seeing many new creatures this month but enjoying a good rain every afternoon or evening like I had been expecting since May! Hope the rain continues into Dry Season/Summer, which often begins in November or December. We need rain greatly! It has been a drought winter in Costa Rica this year with our summer beginning in December it will mean no rain for 6 months, our dry season. I’m expecting to water my garden a lot.

Yeah, this is “just a moth,” but click image to enlarge, then look at that intricate pattern, those fake eyes near top to scare away birds, and the subtle colors. It reminds me of a favorite Scripture verse:

Take a good look at God’s wonders—
    they’ll take your breath away.
Psalm 66:5 THE MESSAGE