In the movie version, however, while the script still refers to styx, the species depicted is Acherontia atropos.

It takes its name from the scientific name of the Death's-head Hawkmoth, Acherontia atropos.

Death's-head hawk moth (Acherontia atropos)

One day he found a "rare and portentous Death's-Head Hawk [moth] (Acherontia atropos)" at the side of the road.

Van Helsing nodded to him as he whispered to me unconsciously, "The Acherontia Atropos of the Sphinges, what you call the 'Death's-head Moth'?"

Other notable species are Acherontia atropos, a variety of Death's-head Hawkmoth, Vipera latasti, a venomous snake, and the endemic (and endangered) fish Aphanius baeticus.

The larvae of the Death's Head Hawkmoth (Acherontia atropos) and the Fulvous Hawkmoth (Coelonia mauritii) eat the leaves of this plant.

The skull pattern and its fanciful associations with the supernatural and evil have fostered superstitious fears of Acherontia species, particularly Acherontia atropos, perhaps because it is the most widely known.

In the latter film the moth is used as a calling card by the serial killer "Buffalo Bill", though the movie script refers to Acherontia styx, and the moths that appear in the film are Acherontia atropos.

An Acherontia styx pupa found in the soft palate of a murder victim is a vital clue in the thriller novel The Silence of the Lambs; in the movie version, however, while the script still refers to styx, the species used is Acherontia atropos.