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ocellus (oh-SEL-uhs) - n., an eyelike spot or ring of color, as on a peacock's tail or the wings of some butterflies.
The technical term for an eyespot. Whether they appear out of mimicry (make the animal look like another, more dangerous one) or distraction (make a bird go for the wing instead of the more vulnerable body) or other reason, depends on the species and the evolutionary pressures on it. In peacocks, it's to attract attention, of course. I actually had the plural form ocelli (oh-SEL-ay) on my list, but running that didn't seem kosher. First used in 1819, adopted from Latin where it's the diminutive of oculus, eye.
---L.
The technical term for an eyespot. Whether they appear out of mimicry (make the animal look like another, more dangerous one) or distraction (make a bird go for the wing instead of the more vulnerable body) or other reason, depends on the species and the evolutionary pressures on it. In peacocks, it's to attract attention, of course. I actually had the plural form ocelli (oh-SEL-ay) on my list, but running that didn't seem kosher. First used in 1819, adopted from Latin where it's the diminutive of oculus, eye.
---L.
