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Subspecies of Automeris io in Indiana
io moth image
Io Moth
(Automeris io io)

Automeris io — Io Moth

(Fabricius, 1775)

io Subspecies io Species Automeris Genus Hemileucinae Subfamily Family Saturniidae Bombycoidea Superfamily Order Lepidoptera Insecta Class Hexapoda Subphylum Phylum Arthropoda Kingdom Animalia
io Subspecies io Species Automeris Genus Hemileucinae Subfamily Family Saturniidae Bombycoidea Superfamily Order Lepidoptera Insecta Class Hexapoda Subphylum Phylum Arthropoda Kingdom Animalia

Etymology

Automeris: Combines the Greek auto meaning “self” and meris meaning “divided.”

Io: Derived from Greek mythology, Io, princess of Argos, was a mortal woman with whom Zeus fell in love. Io is also the innermost and third largest of Jupiter’s moons.

Pronunciation

ahw-toe-mihr-is eye-oh

Overview

Automeris io is a species of silkworm moths in the family Saturniidae that contains two taxonomically valid subspecies.


Distribution of Species Automeris io
Taxonomic Level Worldwide North America Midwestern USA Indiana    
Subspecies 2 2ab 1 1

aFirst described in 1775 by Danish entomologist Johann Christian Fabricius, the subspecies Automeris io io is widespread across eastern and portions of western North America.
bSubspecies Automeris io neomexicana was first described in 1923 by entomologists Willam Barnes and Foster Hendrickson Benjamin. A. io neomexicana is endemic to New Mexico and portions of Texas.

Occurrences by County

Counties recorded: 45 of 92

Top counties/#of records:
Brown: 70
Monroe: 32
Hamilton: 29
Scott: 17
Porter: 14
Washington: 14
Hendricks: 10

species present icon GAIN LP documented in county

Photo Credit

Image courtesy of Rick Malad.