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Glite Dictionary
Automeris io

Automeris io

9.9
A large yellow moth with a big eye-like spot on each back wing whose caterpillars have stinging spines
  • proper noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : Automeris io
  • The brilliant eyespots on the hind wings of the Automeris io are used to startle predators.

Examples

  • Gardeners are wary of the caterpillars of Automeris io because of their stinging spines.

  • The Automeris io moth is often found in woodlands across eastern North America.

  • I saw an Automeris io resting on a leaf.

  • The Automeris io is known for its striking yellow wings.

  • Gardeners are wary of the caterpillars of Automeris io because of their stinging spines.

  • The Automeris io moth is often found in woodlands across eastern North America.

  • The brilliant eyespots on the hind wings of the Automeris io are used to startle predators.

Synonyms

io moth
vsAutomeris io
  • US
1 9.4

A large yellow moth with big eye spots on its hind wings whose caterpillars have stinging spines

is the scientific Latin name used in formal biological naming

Surface Forms

Automeris io main

Morphology

Automeris + io

This is a Linnaean binomial (genus + species epithet). Knowing 'Automeris' signals a type of moth, but the epithet 'io' carries no transparent lexical meaning, so the detailed species description cannot be derived from the constituents; the label partly informs (it's a moth) but not the full sense.

Etymology

Automeris io may come from the moth's big, bright 'eye' spots on its hind wings. One popular story says the io part points to those round marks that scare predators, so the name helps you remember a moth that startles birds and whose caterpillars have stinging spines.