BUTTERFLIES

PEACOCK:

The Latin name for the peacock butterfly is Inachis io.

The peacock is one of the most popular of all butterflies because of it's striking colouration and the conspicuous coloured eyes on the wings resembling those on a peacock's tail feathers.

It has a wingspan of 50-60mm. Males and females are very similar. The wings are a deep reddish-brown, edged with a greyish border, and all four are marked with a peacock eye. The wings are almost black on the underside.

This butterfly lives around farmsteads and in valleys and breeds on nettles. The peacock butterfly regularly visits flowering goat willows, where it sunbathes and sucks the nectar from the blossoms.

The caterpillars of this butterfly are striking black with white spots, with branched spines over the whole body.