Ascalapha odorata

Black witch
Female in São Paulo, Brazil
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Superfamily:	Noctuoidea
Family:	Erebidae
Genus:	Ascalapha
Species:	A. odorata
Binomial name
Ascalapha odorata (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Erebus odora Otosema odora Phalaena Bombyx odorata Linnaeus, 1758 Phalaena Bombyx odora Linnaeus, 1764 Erebus agarista Cramer, 1779 Erebus marquesi Paulsen in Philippi, 1871

The erebid moth Ascalapha odorata, commonly known as the black witch,^[1] is a large bat-shaped, dark-colored nocturnal moth, normally ranging from the southern United States to Brazil. Ascalapha odorata is also migratory into Canada and most states of United States. It is the largest noctuoid in the continental United States. In the folklore of many Central American cultures, it is associated with death or misfortune.