page_title: Lepidoptera
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Lepidoptera / Relationship to people / Culture
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch&#x3a;&#32; Acherontia lachesis - Dorsalansicht Sammlung des Mathematikers Laurent SchwartzEnglish&#x3a;&#32; Acherontia lachesis - Dorsal side Collection of the Mathematician Laurent SchwartzFrançais&#x202f;&#x3a;&#32; Acherontia lachesis - Face dorsale Collection du mathématicien Laurent Schwartz
context_page_description: Lepidoptera is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10 per cent of the total described species of living organisms. It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world. The Lepidoptera show many variations of the basic body structure that have evolved to gain advantages in lifestyle and distribution. Recent estimates suggest the order may have more species than earlier thought, and is among the four most speciose orders, along with the Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Coleoptera.
  Lepidopteran species are characterized by more than three derived features. The most apparent is the presence of scales that cover the bodies, wings, and a proboscis. The scales are modified, flattened "hairs", and give butterflies and moths their wide variety of colors and patterns. Almost all species have some form of membranous wings, except for a few that have reduced wings or are wingless. Mating and the laying of eggs are carried out by adults, normally near or on host plants for the larvae.
context_section_description: Artistic depictions of butterflies have been used in many cultures including as early as 3500 years ago, in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Today, butterflies are widely used in various objects of art and jewelry: mounted in frames, embedded in resin, displayed in bottles, laminated in paper, and in some mixed media artworks and furnishings. Butterflies have also inspired the "butterfly fairy" as an art and fictional character.
  In many cultures the soul of a dead person is associated with the butterfly, for example in Ancient Greece, where the word for butterfly ψυχή (psyche) also means soul and breath. In Latin, as in Ancient Greece, the word for "butterfly" papilio was associated with the soul of the dead. The skull-like marking on the thorax of the death's-head hawkmoth has helped these moths, particularly A. atropos, earn a negative reputation, such as associations with the supernatural and evil. The moth has been prominently featured in art and movies such as Un Chien Andalou (by Buñuel and Dalí) and The Silence of the Lambs, and in the artwork of the Japanese metal band Sigh's album Hail Horror Hail. According to Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, by Lafcadio Hearn, a butterfly was seen in Japan as the personification of a person's soul; whether they be living, dying, or already dead. One Japanese superstition says that if a butterfly enters your guestroom and perches behind the bamboo screen, the person whom you most love is coming to see you. However, large numbers of butterflies are viewed as bad omens. When Taira no Masakado was secretly preparing for his famous revolt, there appeared in Kyoto so vast a swarm of butterflies that the people were frightened—thinking the apparition to be a portent of coming evil.
  In the ancient Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan, the brilliantly colored image of the butterfly was carved into many temples, buildings, jewelry, and emblazoned on incense burners in particular. The butterfly was sometimes depicted with the maw of a jaguar and some species were considered to be the reincarnations of the souls of dead warriors. The close association of butterflies to fire and warfare persisted through to the Aztec civilization and evidence of similar jaguar-butterfly images has been found among the Zapotec, and Maya civilizations.
caption: Death's-head hawkmoth (Acherontia lachesis), an old bleached specimen still showing the classical skull pattern on the thorax
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