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European peacock butterfly — printable fact sheet
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European peacock butterfly
Aglais io
Aglais io is a butterfly with two entirely different defences and a strict sequence for using them. Its wings, when closed, are near-black with fine cryptic veining, and a resting peacock on a tree trunk or in a woodpile is essentially a dead leaf. If a predator gets close, it s…
Did you know?
- Despite their delicate appearance, European peacock butterflies can survive freezing winter temperatures by entering a state of dormancy.
- Because the adult hibernates, a peacock that wakes in a heated house in midwinter will exhaust its fat reserves and die — the standard advice is to move it, gently and cool, to an unheated shed or garage. The eyespots are not a random pattern but sit at the wingtips, exactly where a bird's beak would be aimed, and butterflies with beak-shaped tears through the spots are frequently found alive. Nettles are essential to it, which is one of the few genuinely well-evidenced reasons to leave a patch of them in a garden. Peacocks can be seen basking with wings spread flat on bare ground on cold, bright days, using them as solar panels.
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