User:Felixdevries717/sandbox

Article draft - rough
Old article:

Acherontia atropos Article Introduction

Acherontia atropos, more commonly known as a subspecies of the Death's head hawkmoth, is the most widely recognized of the three species of moth within the Acherontia genus (the other two being Acherontia lachesis and Acherontia styx). It is most commonly identified by the vaguely skull-shaped pattern adorning the thorax, the leading characteristic from which its common name is derived.

Death's head hawk moths are a large family of moth, ranging anywhere from 3.5 inches to 5 inches upon entering adulthood. The upper wings are dark in color, creating a stark contrast between the lower wings, which range from a bright yellow to a light cream color, cream being the least common of the two.

A. atropos makes an appearance in a few popular pieces of media, including in promotional material from the film The Silence of the Lambs and Dracula.

It is commonly found in the southern part of Europe and throughout much of Africa, from where it is considered to be a native species. Annually, A. atropus migrates to parts of Britain, most numerously to the British Isles, where it is less commonly seen than in its native place of residency.

Appearance
Acherontia atropos is a large hawk moth with a wingspan of approximately 80–120 mm (about 3.5 to 5 inches), making it the largest moth in a number of the regions in which it resides. An adult A. atropos has the typical wing and body structure seen in the family Sphingidae. The superior (upper) set of wings are brown with hints of yellow, amber, charcoal, and cream tones; the inferior (lower) wings are yellow with two brown stripes fashioned in waves extending diagonally across the surface. At rest, the wings of the moth fold downwards, concealing the inferior pair behind the superior pair.

The abdomen of A. atropos is robust, and is covered in brown, feathery down. Yellow striping is observed extending part way across each abdominal segment that highly resembles the color patterns of a hornet. The intensity and distribution of color can vary widely in individual specimens, with some individuals occasionally found expressing an indistinguishable "skull-like" pattern on the thorax.

Sexual dimorphism

Female moths of this species tend to be larger than males, appearing bulkier and sporting larger, more robust abdomens.

The abdomen of a male acherotia atropos is less broad, with a pointed distal (lower) abdominal segment. In contrast, the females of this species have a distal abdominal segment that is rounded off at the tip. Antennae seen on a male is thinner and shorter than the antennae seen on a female. There are no pattern or color changes related to the sex of an A. atropos.

Etymology
The species name Atropos relates to death, and is named after the Greek Goddess Atropos. Atropos was one of the three Moirai, goddesses of fate and destiny. According to Greek mythology, the three Moirai decide the fate of each human living on Earth, making the three a lesser symbol of death.

The genus name Acherontia is in relation to Acheron, a river located in Epirus, Greece. During later time periods, Acheron was thought to be a pathway that lead directly to Hades due to the large, dark gorges it flowed through. According to Greek mythology, Acheron is a river in Hades, and the name itself occasionally refers directly to the underworld.

Acherontia Atropos receives both its species and genus names from bodies relating to death or dark subjects.

Behavior
Vocal

This particular species displays a number of unusual behaviors not normally seen in other species found within the the order Lepidoptera.

Unlike most moths, who generate noise by rubbing external body parts together, all three species within the Acherontia genus are capable of producing a "squeak" from the pharynx, a response triggered upon external agitation. The moth sucks in air, causing an internal flap between the mouth and throat to vibrate at a rapid speed. The "squeak" described is produced upon the exhalation when the flap is open. Each cycle of inhalation and exhalation takes approximately one fifth of a second to complete.

It is unclear exactly why the moth emits this sound, though some likely theories have been constructed upon observation and research.

One such theory states that the squeak may be used to deter potential predators. Due to its unusual method of producing sound, the squeak created from acherontia atrpopos is especially startling.

Another theory suggests that the squeak relates to the moth's honey bee hive raiding habits. The squeak produced from this moth mimics the piping noise produced from a honey bee hive's Queen, a noise in which she utilizes to signal the worker bees to stop moving.

Development
(To be edited)

Acherontia atropos occurs throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean region, much of Africa down to the southern tip, and increasingly as far north as southern Great Britain due to recently mild British winters. It occurs as far east as India and western Saudi Arabia, and as far west as the Canary Islands and Azores. It invades western Eurasia frequently, although few individuals successfully overwinter.

There are several generations of Acherontia atropos per year, with continuous broods found in Africa. In the northern parts of its range, the species overwinters in the pupal stage. Eggs are laid individually under old leaves of Solanaceae, potato especially, but also under Physalis and other nightshades. However it also has been recorded on members of the Verbenaceae, e.g. Lantana, and on members of the families Cannabaceae, Oleaceae, Pedaliaceae and others. The larvae are stout with a posterior horn, as is typical of larvae of the Sphingidae. Most sphingid larvae however, have fairly smooth posterior horns, possibly with a simple curve, either upward or downward. In contrast, Acherontia species and certain relatives bear a posterior horn embossed with round projections about the thicker part. The horn itself bends downwards near the base, but curls upwards towards the tip.a

The newly hatched larva starts out a light shade of green but darkens after feeding, with yellow stripes diagonally on the sides. In the second instar, it has thorn-like horns on the back. In the third instar, purple or blue edging develops on the yellow stripes and the tail horn turns from black to yellow. In the final instar, the thorns disappear and the larva may adopt one of three color morphs: green, brown, or yellow. Larvae do not move much, and will click their mandibles or even bite if threatened, though the bite is effectively harmless to the human skin. The larva grows to about 120–130 mm, and pupates in an underground chamber. The pupa is smooth and glossy with the proboscis fused to the body, as in most Lepidoptera.

Article Evaluation
The article that I have evaluated (Death's-head hawkmoth) includes information that is relevant to the topic, but the information is lacking and not well organized.

The introduction is dismal; it fails to provide interesting information appropriate for a formal introduction. It was less of an introduction, and more of a summary of the moth itself. Different topics within the the introduction could have been arranged into subcategories in order to make the article more aesthetically pleasing and interesting to read.

The article does not go into the behaviors of the moth as much as I would like. Information on anatomy is also lacking. There is plenty of insight on the Death's Head Hawkmoth in popular culture, but not enough on the moth itself.

The article appears to be unbiased and neutral.

The references, while correct, fail to provide many facts about the moth. Some references linked to books or films. While some of the references were well cited and from reliable sources, there simply is not enough there to construct to well put together encyclopedia article.

The conversations in the talk page are about sorting similar articles. No conversation were relevant to the article's topic. The participants seemed professional, but were far more interested in sorting certain taxonomic subcategories of insect than researching and providing quality information on the one specific article.

The article has a "start" rating and is part of the insect wikiproject.

Articles: Considerations

 * Gender Expression
 * Multiple Gender Attraction
 * Body piercing jewelry

Article Evaluation: Gender Expression
The article is desolate; it is lacking both reference and information. A few sentences are found within the article, but none of them are properly constructed. Some terms that may be considered controversial are include in the article. The article fails to accurately generalize gender expression in the introduction.

Elements worth adding:

 * Accurate information
 * Correct terminology
 * History and evolution of gender expression
 * Multiple viewpoints of gender expression
 * Broader collection of references
 * Wider range of vocabulary
 * Political discussions on gender expression
 * Effects of free gender expression
 * Social status of non-binary gender expression
 * Pictures relevant to the article



Elements worth changing:

 * Sentence structure
 * Terminology
 * Scale of information that currently exists
 * Number of references
 * Amount of detail

I will want to proceed with caution if I decide to edit this article. There appears to be a fine line between gender expression and identity, according the current talk page. While I am positive that gender expression is far different from gender identity, it would help to take care when discussing the topic on the article's talk page. Reviewing the information included in the gender identity article will be a good resource to see what information will differ and be relevant to this particular article.

Article Evaluation: Multiple Gender Attraction
This article is royally lacking in information and references. There are two sentences total, and zero references to back it up.

Elements worth adding:

 * More sexual/romantic orientations
 * Descriptions of these orientations, with links to their own article
 * Adding diversity of gender and how it relates to attraction
 * History
 * Social details
 * Demographic information
 * Subcategories
 * References
 * More information by a general.
 * Various pictures relevant ot the topic

Elements worth changing:

 * Amount of information
 * Amount of references
 * Everything about this article

Article Evaluation: Body Piercing Jewelry
This article has some text, but it could be greatly improved. There are no sources cited, and the introduction only has one sentence. The article does include some images of various pieces of jewelry for body piercing, but does not go into detail.

Elements worth adding:


 * Sources
 * Specific information on different piercing jewelry pieces
 * Information on the materials used
 * A larger, more elaborate introduction
 * More pictures

Elements worth changing:


 * The articles spelling of "Jewelry" (spelled "Jewellery" in the article's title name.
 * No references
 * Lack of information
 * Detail of information
 * Article format (current formatting is messy and unappealing to the eye

This is an article that would be good to edit. There is medical information on various body piercing materials, as well as information on location of piercing and types used.