the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Sphingidae > acherontia atropos (death's-head moth) (2)
a very large hawkmoth of Europe and Africa, Acherontia atropos, which has a marking on the back of the thorax somewhat resembling a skull, and is…
a real or imaginary moth that is said to herald a death; cf. death's head moth n. at death's head, n. compounds 2.