European Peacock Butterfly
Aglais io
Insecta
COMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- Up to 1 yr
- Size
- Medium
- Diet
- Herbivore
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Social
- Solitary
- Biome
- Temperate woodland
- Range
- Eurasia
- Movement
- Flight
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Warning Colors
- Status
- Common
About
The European Peacock butterfly is instantly recognisable by four vivid eyespots — one on each wing — that it flashes open with an audible hiss to startle predators. Unlike most butterflies, it overwinters as an adult, sheltering in hollow trees or dark buildings for up to six months before re-emerging in spring.
Life cycle
- 1.eggA tiny ribbed egg laid on the underside of a host-plant leaf, hatching within days.
- 2.caterpillarA voracious caterpillar feeds and molts through several instars, growing rapidly.
- 3.chrysalisA chrysalis hangs sealed and still while the body remodels into a winged adult.
- 4.butterflyA winged adult with full scales and coloration, ready to fly and mate.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Lepidoptera
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Genus
- Aglais
- Species
- Aglais io