Claim:
One photo shows an “American winged goblin” or the “Angelus mandragora luctus admonum parva américanum,” an insect that looks exactly like a goblin.
Valuation:
fact check
A photo showing a winged insect with a pixie-like face circulated online in September 2022, claiming it was a true species known as the “American winged pixie” or “Angelus mandragora luctus admonum parva américanum.” .
The caption below the Reddit post with this photo reads:
It is known as the American Winged Goblin. It is extremely rare and this is only the second specimen discovered to date. The scientific name: Angelus mandragora luctus admonum parva américanum, translated The angel of the mandrake mourns the little American admonition.
It’s not an insect, since winged insects have 6 legs, so it’s been placed in an undefinable intermediate category.
The only known copy was in the possession of the Emperor of China and was painted on a silk carpet, and judging by the features it was a girl.
According to the Chinese writings on the tapestry, the creepy species is said to have certain powers, including blinding, healing and extraordinary intelligence.
However, this appears to be a photo taken from an artist’s account and presented as a real insect. The photo previously appeared on the Magic Within Facebook page, which frequently posts about the work of creating little dolls of forest animals from fairy tales that look like goblins, goblins, etc.
The photo appeared on the Facebook page on August 17, 2022:
The artist wrote on August 17, 2022 in the same post: “Some of my paintings of the fae are misunderstood. how do i work I channel the energies of the fae folk. And give them an expression in this 3rd dimension [sic]. to connect with us humans.”
In a comment below the image, someone wrote: “On another site this morning someone claimed this piece of art was a real mistake and only two of these were ever found. Lmao.” The artist replied, “I know. On many pages. That’s why I posted [sic] the true story.”
The artist also shared this work on Facebook in July 2020. There are many similar creations on the site, including this one:
The site has around 29,000 followers and claims to be an “artist site for magical creatures of this world and beyond.” We’ve been in touch with the artist and will update this post when we get more information.
Given that the photo clearly does not show an actual insect or bug, and appears to be from an artist’s account showing little dolls that are fairytale creatures with insect-like features, we classify this claim as “mislabeled.”
Sources:
“Magic within.” Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fmagicwithinfantasy. Retrieved 19 Sep 2022.
NSFW-SF-Bay-MachoMan. “American Winged Goblin: Has Anyone Seen This?!” R/Blackmagic, September 17, 2022, www.reddit.com/r/blackmagic/comments/xgotel/american_winged_goblin_has_anyone_ever_seen_this/. Retrieved 19 Sep 2022.
