''Automeris'' is a genus of

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

s in the family

Saturniidae Saturniidae, members of which are commonly named the saturniids, is a family of Lepidoptera with an estimated 2,300 described species. The family contains some of the largest species of moths in the world. Notable members include the emperor m ...

and the subfamily

Hemileucinae Hemileucinae is a subfamily of the family Saturniidae, including a number of taxa whose caterpillars have venomous urticating hairs. This subfamily contains the following genera: *'' Adetomeris'' Michener, 1949 *'' Ancistrota'' Hübner, 1819 ...

. As of 1996 there were 124 species, and more have since been described.Balcázar-Lara, M. A. (2000)
"A new ''Automeris'' from the Manantlan Reserve in Mexico (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae: Hemileudinae)"
. ''Florida Entomologist''. 83 (2): 343-48. These moths are generally characterized by the eyelike patches on the hindwings and the leaflike pattern on the forewings, an example of

crypsis In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an animal or a plant to avoid observation or detection by other animals. It may be part of a predation strategy or an antipredator adaptation. Methods include camouflage, nocturnality, subterranean life ...

. The genus was first described by

Jacob Hübner Jacob Hübner (20 June 1761 – 13 September 1826, in Augsburg) was a German entomologist. He was the author of ''Sammlung Europäischer Schmetterlinge'' (1796–1805), a founding work of entomology. Scientific career Hübner was the author of '' ...

in 1819 and it is distributed in the

Neotropical realm The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropics, tropical Ecoregion#Terrestrial, terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperat ...

List of species

Gallery

File:Automeris ioFMPCCA20040704-2974B1.jpg, ''Automeris io'' File:Automeris metzli.jpg, ''Automeris metzli'' File:Naturkundliche Sammlung Übermaxx Überseemuseum Bremen 0046.JPG, ''Automeris zozine'' File:Automerislarra.JPG, ''Automeris larra'' File:Moth (Automeris sp.).JPG, ''Automeris'' species,

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

References

Hemileucinae Bombycoidea genera Taxa named by Jacob Hübner {{Saturniidae-stub