Owl butterfly

The owl butterflies, or as they are sometimes called, the owl-eyed butterflies, are big tropical butterflies with a giant "eye spot" on their wings.

I wrote up a bit about them in my sorely laking "critter essays" section where some some more details can be found:  http://www.tropicalbats.com/owl-butterfly.html

This photo is from a butterfly on the Firestone Center for Restoration ecology, and a close-up of the "eye."

The eye of the owl-eye butterfly.