owl butterfly

American

[oul buht-er-flahy] / ˈaʊl ˌbʌt ər flaɪ /

noun

any of several very large nymphalid butterflies of the genus Caligo, native to the forests of Mexico, Central America, and South America, having a prominent eyespot resembling an owl's eye on each hindwing: its caterpillar is a pest to banana and sugar cane plantations.

First recorded in 1880–85

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Visitors view other butterflies behind an owl butterfly, foreground.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 22, 2026

I didn’t have the heart to tell her that her breakthrough moment involved an owl butterfly, not a moth.

From Washington Post • Jan. 26, 2016

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023