---
title: "Doodshoofdvlinder"
description: "Acherontia atropos — Insecten en spinnen. Acherontia atropos, the African death's-head hawkmoth, is the most widely recognized of three species within the genus Acherontia (the other two being Acherontia lachesis and Acherontia styx)."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/death-s-head-hawkmoth
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Doodshoofdvlinder

> Acherontia atropos — Insecten en spinnen. Acherontia atropos, the African death's-head hawkmoth, is the most widely recognized of three species within the genus Acherontia (the other two being Acherontia lachesis and Acherontia styx).

- Scientific name: *Acherontia atropos*
- Category: `insects` (Insecten en spinnen)
- Habitats: unknown
- iNaturalist observations: 8641
- Wikidata: [Q41524](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q41524)
- iNaturalist taxon: [56530](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/56530)

## Names

- en: Death's Head Hawkmoth
- de: Totenkopfschwärmer
- es: Esfinge de la Calavera
- fr: Sphinx tête de mort
- nl: Doodshoofdvlinder
- pl: Zmierzchnica trupia główka

## Countries with the most observations

FR (1659), ES (1457), IT (1218), ZA (957), PT (700), AT (340), DE (167), CH (145), GR (93), GB (86), RE (86), UA (76)

## Summary

Acherontia atropos, the African death's-head hawkmoth, is the most widely recognized of three species within the genus Acherontia (the other two being Acherontia lachesis and Acherontia styx). It is most commonly identified by the vaguely skull-shaped pattern adorning the thorax, the characteristic from which its common and scientific names are derived. The species was first given its scientific name by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
Death's-head hawk moths are large, ranging from 3.5 to 5 inches (80–120 mm) as adults. The upper wings are dark, creating a stark contrast between them and…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acherontia_atropos

## Photo

![Doodshoofdvlinder](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/death-s-head-hawkmoth/medium.jpg)

Photo: Liubov Ilminska · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/117549550

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/death-s-head-hawkmoth?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).