A purported photograph shared to X (formerly Twitter) on Aug. 13, 2023, claimed to show "THE NUN MONTH" – a flying insect characterized by an eerie face reminiscent of that seen on the cover of the 2018 horror film, "The Nun."
THE NUN MOTH pic.twitter.com/DbnoG2TEmt
— toniii (@tinyangelette) August 13, 2023
Similar posts made their way to Reddit threads, also suggesting that "this actual butterfly" was a genuine, albeit nightmarish, insect:
This actual Butterfly belongs in this game somewhere lol
by u/Unlucky-Ad-4333 in HuntShowdown
While the nun moth is an authentic insect, viral images shared in 2023 like the ones above did not accurately depict the species. In reality, these images were part of a "vast collection of artworks illustrating imaginary insects."
To come to this conclusion, Snopes conducted a reverse image search using Google Lens and found a video of the creature shared on Instagram on June 30, 2023, by the account @richardwilkinsonart. A caption suggested that the image was a piece of art and described it as being "really beautifully printed."
The above video was also shared to TikTok by the account @arthropodaiconicus on June 30, 2023. A caption identified the artwork as being part of the collection "'Timorpersonidae - Insects Inspired by Classic Horror Cinema," which was released at the time the video was posted. Captions that accompanied the video on TikTok further confirmed that the "nun moth" image was a work of art, including "#imaginaryinsects" and "#insectart."
Both the Instagram and TikTok accounts belong to Richard Wilkinson, an English artist and illustrator whose work is described as being "influenced by the art of pioneering natural history artists of the 18th and 19th century."
"His work draws heavily on the scientific aesthetic of this era, but turns the microscope's focus instead onto the flora and fauna of modern popular culture," the About section on Wilkinson's website said.
The image of the "nun moth" shared on social media was part of Wilkinson's first series, titled "Arthropoda iconicus." The series was described as "a vast collection of artworks illustrating imaginary insects (and a few other arthropods) which hold within them a resemblance to some specimen of popular culture - a film or TV character, a vehicle, a building, a shoe or a bag…"
In particular, the "nun moth" piece was a limited edition print titled, "Daemonis sanctimonialis" that retailed for £50.00.
Though Wilkinson's work is that of artistic fiction, the nun moth (scientific name Lymantria monacha) is a genuine species native to Eurasia, according to the U.S. National Invasive Species Information Center at the Department of Agriculture. The species is not currently believed to be established in the U.S. as of this publication, and below is a picture of the actual moth:
(Photo by Melody Keena; USDA, Forest Service)
Snopes reached out to Wilkinson by email for further comment but did not receive a response at the time of this publication. We will update the article accordingly.