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

Example Sentences

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

Comparison of the total number of encounters shows that more birds responded to the eyespot, a trait that will likely be selected against in natural populations of the butterfly.

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

Chlamydomonas is a simple, unicellular chlorophyte with a pear-shaped morphology and two opposing, anterior flagella that guide this protist toward light sensed by its eyespot.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

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

From Moths of the Limberlost by Stratton-Porter, Gene