In many cultures one of these flying into the house is considered bad luck. Growing up in Jamaica when they came into the house, and it would always be one and not very often, I saw them as a visiting spirit. It is considered a harbinger of death in Mexican and Caribbean folklore. In Spanish it is known as "Mariposa de la muerte" (Mexico & Costa Rica)
[1], "Pirpinto de la Yeta" (Argentina) or simply "Mariposa negra" (Colombia); in
Nahuatl (Mexico) it is "Miquipapalotl" or "Tepanpapalotl" (
miqui = death, black +
papalotl = moth); in
Quechua (Peru) it is "Taparaco"; in
Mayan (Yucatán) it is "X-mahan-nail" (
mahan = to borrow +
nail = house)
[2]; in
Jamaica and the
Caribbean, the moth is known as the "Duppy Bat" or "Money moth"
[3]. Other names for the moth include the Papillion-devil, La Sorcière Noire, or the Mourning or Sorrow moth.
I love the positive meaning the Hawaiian's have,- In Hawaii, Black Witch mythology, though associated with death, has a happier note in that if a loved one has just died, the moth is an embodiment of the person's soul returning to say goodbye. For me the loved one is stopping by to say hello. On
Cat Island, Bahamas, where they are locally known as Money Moths or Moneybats, the legend is that if they land on you, you will come into money, and similarly, in South Texas, if a Black Witch lands above your door and stays there for a while you will supposedly win the lottery
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