Peacock (Aglais io)
2024 photographs highlighted in yellow. Click on any photograph to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
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| 14459_sex?_UK Buckinghamshire_15Mar09 | 13674_sex?_Lozère_21Aug08 | 48825_female_Côte-d'Or_27Jul21 | 38607_female_Pyrénées-Orientales_17Jul15 |
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This is probably the most beautifully-marked European butterfly. If it was a rarity, its beauty would probably be more appreciated. Curiously, in 2006 I hardly saw any in Var until late September, when they started to appear in reasonable numbers. |
In subsequent years
there have been virtually no sightings, hence the paucity of photographs. Scientific studies have concluded that the "eye-spots", when flashed as the wings open and close, have shown to be a deterrent to attacks from birds. I'm not sure how any study could come to this conclusion (there would need a test and a control), but I can see how it would be a deterrent. This species was previously known as Inachis io. |
| ref | sex |
observations |
alt. m |
| 14459 | M |
a male, based its territorial behaviour. |
90 |
| 13674 | ? |
hard to say what sex it is. |
1450 |
| 48825 | ? | possibly a female based on what can be seen of the body shape. This individual posed perfectly with open wings on a warm but overcast day, sitting motionless for some time. It appears to a have a rather carmine-red colouring, maybe because it was fresh, but the ground colour provides an excellent backdrop to the multi-coloured markings. All in all, a spectacularly beautiful butterfly. | 320 |
| 38607 | F | a rare (for me) sighting a an underside, probably a female based on body shape. | 1820 |
14459_sex?_UK Buckinghamshire_15Mar09
48825_female_Côte-d'Or_27Jul21
38607_female_Pyrénées-Orientales_17Jul15
