Polyphemus

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Greek Mythology The Cyclops who confined Odysseus and his companions in a cave until Odysseus blinded him and escaped.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. An animal which has only one eye, whether naturally or abnormally; a cyclops.
2. n. The specific name of the king-crab, Limulus polyphemus.
3. n. [capitalized] In Crustacea, the typical genus of the family Polyphemidæ: so called from the large solitary and apparently single eye formed by the coalescence of a pair of eyes. P. stagnorum is an example.
4. n. Any member of the family Polyphemidæ.
5. n. In Lepidoptera, the technical specific and (absolutely) the vernacular name of one of the largest American silkworms or silkworm-moths, Telea polyphemus. The caterpillar feeds on many different native trees, as oak, walnut, hickory, willow, elm, maple, poplar, etc., and is of a clear apple-green color with yellow lateral lines. The cocoon is oval and usually wrapped in a leaf, sometimes falling to the ground, but often hanging on the tree all winter. The moth is normally single-brooded in the northern United States, but doublebrooded in the southern. The silk can be reeled, but with considerable difficulty, and is lustrous and strong. The moth has a wing-spread of five or six inches, and is of a buff color, with a large eye-spot on each hind wing.

Wiktionary

1. n. Greek mythology A cyclops in Homer's Odyssey.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Zoöl.) A very large American moth (Telea polyphemus) belonging to the Silkworm family (Bombycidæ). Its larva, which is very large, bright green, with silvery tubercles, and with oblique white stripes on the sides, feeds on the oak, chestnut, willow, cherry, apple, and other trees. It produces a large amount of strong silk. Called also American silkworm.