Symbol Sprayer

The Symbol Sprayer acts like a particle sprayer—letting you add a large number of identical objects to the artboard at one time. For example, use the symbol sprayer to add hundreds of grass blades, wildflowers, bees, or snowflakes.

SOURCE:

https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/symbolism-tools-symbol-sets.html

Good Analogy: CC particular in After Effects. Particle system generator that allows user to easily generate particles while adding unique effects for an animation.