citlalocuilin (FCbk11f105v)

This iconographic example, featuring a prickly pear worm (citlalocuilin), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the text near the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows a profile view of citlalocuilin, facing left. The worm (ocuilin) is gray on the back with white circular spots that resemble the early way of showing stars (citlalin). It also has a light pink wash over its entire body, but clearest on the belly. It has two rows of what appear to be eight or nine tiny rounded feet on each side. The contextualizing image shows that a small prickly pear cactus (nochtli or nopalli) appears near its head. The result is something like a compound hieroglyph, except that the plant is there just to explain the association of this creature; it is not part of the name.