Automeris io

Io moth
Female (top) and male (below)
Female (top) and male (below)

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Saturniidae
Genus: Automeris
Species:
A. io
Binomial name
Automeris io
(Fabricius, 1775)[2]
Subspecies[3]
  • Automeris io io (Fabricius, 1775)
  • Automeris io neomexicana Barnes & Benjamin, 1923
Synonyms[4]
  • Bombyx io Fabricius, 1775
  • Phalaena io (Fabricius, 1775)
  • Hyperchiria io (Fabricius, 1775)
  • Hyperchiria lilith Strecker, 1872

Automeris io, the Io moth (EYE-oh) or peacock moth, is a colorful North American moth in the family Saturniidae.[5][6] The Io moth is also a member of the subfamily Hemileucinae.[7] The name Io comes from Greek mythology in which Io was a mortal lover of Zeus.[8] The Io moth ranges from the southeast corner of Manitoba and in the southern extremes of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in Canada, and in the US it is found from Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, east of those states and down to the southern end of Florida.[9] The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775.

  1. ^ NatureServe (May 5, 2023). "Automeris io". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  2. ^ Fabricius, Johan Christian (1775). Systema entomologiae: sistens insectorvm classes, ordines, genera, species, adiectis synonymis, locis, descriptionibvs, observationibvs (PDF) (in Latin). Flensbvrgi et Lipsiae: In Officina Libraria Kortii. p. 560. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.36510. OCLC 559265566. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  3. ^ "Automeris io (Fabricius, 1775)". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  4. ^ Hall, Donald W. (November 2014). "Featured Creatures: Io moth". Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences. University of Florida. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  5. ^ "Species Automeris io - Io Moth - Hodges#7746". bugguide.net. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  6. ^ Triant, Deborah A (2016). "Genome assembly and annotation of the io moth,Automeris io (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae)". 2016 International Congress of Entomology. Entomological Society of America. doi:10.1603/ice.2016.114514.
  7. ^ "Io moth Automeris io (Fabricius, 1775) | Butterflies and Moths of North America". www.butterfliesandmoths.org. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  8. ^ "Io Moth (Automeris io)". www.insectidentification.org. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  9. ^ Hossler, Eric; Elston, Dirk; Wagner, David (2008). "What's Eating You? Automeris io" (PDF). Cutis. 82: 21–24.