eyespot

American  

[ahy-spot] / ˈaɪˌspɒt /

noun

1. a sensory organ of lower animals, having a light-perceiving function.

2. an eyelike spot, as on the tail of a peacock; eye.

3. Plant Pathology. a disease of plants, characterized by elliptical lesions on the leaves and stems, stunting of growth, and rotting, caused by any of several fungi.

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eyespot British  

/ ˈaɪˌspɒt /

noun

1. a small area of light-sensitive pigment in some protozoans, algae, and other simple organisms

2. an eyelike marking, as on the wings of certain butterflies

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eyespot Scientific  

/ ī′spŏt′ /

1. An area that is sensitive to light and functions somewhat like an eye, found in certain single-celled organisms as well as many invertebrate animals.

2. A round marking resembling an eye, as on the tail feather of a peacock.

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Etymology

Origin of eyespot

First recorded in 1580–90; eye + spot

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

eyespot

The 30-centimeter-long adult grows out of a larva that is little more than a sesame seed–size blob with an eyespot at one end and a band of cilia around its body.

From Science Magazine ● Jan. 16, 2023

Yellow buntings are birds that feed on butterflies, including Aglaisurticae, a species of butterfly that has bright circular coloring on its wing called an eyespot.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

In one large glob of amber, the extended wing of a butterflylike lacewing shows a decoy eyespot that may have helped misdirect predators.

From Science Magazine ● May 23, 2019

Euglenoids move through their aquatic habitats using two long flagella that guide them toward light sources sensed by a primitive ocular organ called an eyespot.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

The `piece de resistance' of the back wing, is the eyespot.

From Moths of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter

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