Acherontia styx (Face Sparrow)

Japanese: メンガタスズメ(面形雀) - メンガタスズメ（英語表記）Acherontia styx

An insect of the Lepidoptera family, Sphingidae. Wing span is 9-10cm. The head, thorax and forewings are purple-black, the hindwings and abdomen are orange, the hindwings have two black-brown bands, the dorsal surface of the abdomen is blue, and each segment is bordered in black. It is named after the pattern on the dorsal surface of the thorax that resembles a human face. A closely related species, A. atropos , which lives in Africa, migrates to Europe every year and is called the death's head moth because of its skull-like pattern. The death's head moth is distributed over a wide area, from Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, and China to India.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

鱗翅目スズメガ科の昆虫。翅の開張9～10cm。頭，胸と前翅は紫黒色，後翅と腹部は橙色，後翅には2本の黒褐色帯があり，腹部背面は青色をおび，各節は黒色で縁取られている。胸部背面には人面に似た紋があるのでこの名がある。アフリカにすむ本種の近縁種A.atroposは，年々ヨーロッパに飛来し，紋をどくろにみたてて，death’s‐head‐mothという英名で呼ばれている。メンガタスズメは本州，四国，九州，台湾，朝鮮半島，中国から，インドまで広範囲に分布する。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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