Io Moth

The Io moth, also known as the peacock moth, is a colorful North American moth in the family Saturniidae and a member of the subfamily Hemileucinae. Its name comes from Greek mythology, where Io was a mortal lover of Zeus. The species ranges from the southeast corner of Manitoba and the southern extremes of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in Canada, through much of the United States east of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Utah, and south to the southern end of Florida. It was first described by the entomologist Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775.