Inachis io

9.9

A European butterfly with reddish-brown wings and large eye spots often called the peacock butterfly

noun

Specialized

: Inachis io

Children observe the stunning eyespots on the wings of an Inachis io as it lands on a flower.

Examples

The brilliant Inachis io can often be spotted fluttering in European gardens during summer.
After emerging in spring, the Inachis io becomes a spectacular sight in meadows across Britain.
Look at that beautiful Inachis io fluttering by!
I spotted an Inachis io in the garden today.
After emerging in spring, the Inachis io becomes a spectacular sight in meadows across Britain.
Children observe the stunning eyespots on the wings of an Inachis io as it lands on a flower.
The brilliant Inachis io can often be spotted fluttering in European gardens during summer.

Synonyms

peacock

vsInachis io

1 9.2

A reddish-brown butterfly with a large eye spot on each wing

is the formal scientific name rather than the alternate common label

peacock butterfly

vsInachis io

7.1

A European butterfly with reddish-brown wings and purple eye-like spots

is the scientific name used instead of the common name

Surface Forms

Inachis io singular

Inachis ios plural

Morphology

Inachis + io

The genus name 'Inachis' signals a group of butterflies, so a learner who knows that constituent can infer this is a species name and expect a butterfly. However, the epithet 'io' has no lexical meaning and the common-name sense 'peacock butterfly' is not derivable from the parts; binomial Latin names indicate taxonomy rather than a compositional descriptive meaning.

Etymology

Inachis io gets its name from Greek story names: the parts Inachis and io refer to a river name and the woman 'Io', and the butterfly's large round wing spots look like eyes or peacock feathers, so it is called the 'peacock' butterfly today.