Acherontia lachesis (Fabricius, 1798) - Greater Death’s Head Hawkmoth

Taxonomic Information

List of Acherontia Laspeyres, 1809 known from India.
Acherontia lachesis (Fabricius, 1798). Throughout India. 
Acherontia styx (Westwood, 1847). India: Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andaman Is. 

Photo Gallery and Species Biology

StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Andhra Pradesh1
Arunachal Pradesh1111
Assam
Bihar
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh
Dadra & Nagar Haveli
Daman & Diu
Delhi
Goa
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir
Jharkhand
Karnataka111
Kerala131111
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh1
Maharashtra21
Manipur
Meghalaya11
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Paschimbanga
Pondicherry
Punjab
Rajasthan1
Sikkim1
Tamil Nadu1
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand1
West Bengal1
Total11153352321

Acherontia lachesis (Fabricius, 1798) – Greater Death’s Head HawkmothAnisomeles indica, Callicarpa arborea, Callicarpa macrophylla, Elsholtzia fruticosa, Tectona grandis, Vitex negundo (Lamiaceae), Campsis grandiflora, Spathodea campanulata (Bignoniaceae), Duranta erecta, Lantana camaraStachytarpheta  jamaicensis (Verbenaceae), Lablap purpureusErythrina variegata, Erythrina subumbrans (Fabaceae), Jasminum arborescens (Oleaceae), Mussaenda frondosa (Rubiaceae), Nicotiana tabacum, Capsicum annuum (Solanaceae), Melia azedarach (Meliaceae) (Robinson et al. 2010).

  1. OD: Sphinx lachesis Fabricius, 1798. Suppl. Ent. Syst.: 434. Type locality: "India orientali".
  2. Pittaway, A.R.  & I.J. Kitching. Sphingidae of the Eastern Palaearctic. Website accesed June 2015.
  3. Iyer, G. & I.J. Kitching. 2019. A preliminary study of the hawkmoth diversity (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) of Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(5): 13592–13604.Image:24.  DOI.10.11609/jott.4694.11.5.13592-13604.

Page citation

Anonymous 2024. Acherontia lachesis (Fabricius, 1798) – Greater Death’s Head Hawkmoth. In Sondhi, S., Y. Sondhi, R.P. Singh, P. Roy and K. Kunte (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 3.72. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://moths.ncbs.res.in/acherontia-lachesis, accessed 2024/03/28.