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Characteristics Of Saturnia Pavonia

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The emperor moth, or Saturnia pavonia, is a species of moth most notable for its beautiful collection of four eyespots on its wings; two on its front wings and two on its back wings. Because the eyespots are so visible and prominent on the wings of the moth, it can be proposed that this trait was adapted by the moth to increase its chances of viability by intimidating or confusing predators, compared to the common heath moth Ematurga atomaria which is a simple brown or grey colour (i.e. no eyespots). Eyespots on an organism is an example of mimicry – when an organism evolves a specific trait that is similar to a different organism (usually a predator), which in turn can help to improve its chances of survival. The theory behind mimicry proposes that the certain traits that a species adapts (in this case, eyespots), appear as confusing to predators, therefore hindering the predator’s ability to accurately perceive the identity of the species which allows said species even the slightest chance to escape from harm’s way (Howse 2013). There is also proof that large eyespots, such as those on the Saturnia pavonia, are beneficial to the organism because they are visibly similar to the eyes of predators such as owls (Howse 2013). The results from one experiment conducted by Blest (1957) studied the number of averted attacks by birds on a butterfly with eyespots compared to the number of averted attacks on a butterfly with the eyespots concealed from rubbing the wings (Stevens).

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