[Cultural question] Why Americans seem to hate moths?

Post Reply New Topic

....and other anglophone people probably hate them too.

I was watching the Antman and the Wasp, and there's a scene where Paul Rudd commenting how he finds months gross.

I have seen this 'moth hate' in English literature and media a lot, but never seen it in other literature or media in other languages; in french and arabic literature for example they are literally called 'night butterflies', ..... and often portrayed as beautiful creatures like their diurnal cousins (and even more 'elegant' than butterflies due to their silky wings) . I mean, they ARE nocturnal butterflies. In Asian folklores they are believed to be souls of loved ones.

So why all this hate for moths and not for butterflies in English speaking cultures? What's the source of this hate? Bedtime stories? Some folkloric myths related to them?

Moth larvae eat clothes -- moth-eaten clothing is a sign of poverty or a general "trashiness" of the wearer.

Otherwise, moths are just big, winged insects that are no as pretty as butterflies (which don't eat clothes).

Well...they eat wool, and other fabrics. So they are thought of as vermin. Butterflies just go around to flowers. Assist bees in pollinating all of those nice flowers out there, and they don't put holes in your clothes.

And precisely because they are ...like butterflies, but are not butterflies. Ugly ducklings.

But that is an interesting observation. Didn't realize that moth hatred was peculiarly Anglo-American.

BUT...

The Japanese make movies about Mothra. The giant moths who levels cities. They don't make movies about monster butterflies destroying cities. So moth hate cant be that peculiar to the English speaking world.

Yeah moths are symbolic of either poverty, or of neglect.

Characters in old sitcoms and in old animated cartoons will open a drawer and moths will fly out. That shows that what in the drawer is old and festering. Moths are a punchline. In contrast....butterflies are freeee…..

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal." (Matthew 6.19)

Doesn't work if you substitute "butterflies."

According to the Bible, moths are a corruptive force. What with much of America being somewhat Bible-oriented, it only seems natural that Americans would not like moths.

My mom hates moths because she's a knitter and some types of moths eat wool. Also, we had an invasion of grain moths that lasted for several years from some that came in a bag of gerbil food when I was a kid (several flew out of the bag when I cut it open for the first time). Me, I have no problem with moths whatsoever, but then again, insects/arthropods of all kinds were my very first special interest

I don't hate moths. I think it's funny to watch them fly around the lights.

They are big, hairy, eat clothes, and they like to congregate wherever there are lights on thus making it impossible to open windows at night without summoning an army.

Well, I think even most Americans will go "ooh" and "aah" when they see a Luna moth



And I found one a lot like this outside my house a few years ago. I admired it!



Here's Polyphemus



and here's Cecropia



They may not be as flashy as tiger swallowtails, but I think they're pretty impressive - and the humble brown and cream ones are quite beautiful in their own right; they're just subtle. (Edit in: Cecropia has brilliant red legs. Pretty flashy, actually )



See, red legs. Would I lie to you? Dear, fat, fuzzy things.