The species in Thomas Harris's book is the related Malaysian A. Styx. The distinctive trademark of the serial murderer is a hawk moth pupa placed in the mouth of his female victims, whom he later skins. Although the pupa is identified by a museum curator in the film as that of the Death's Head, this is clearly a misidentification: the pupa has a long, jug-handled proboscis, whereas that of the Death's Head is short and stout.