Peacock Butterfly
Aglais io
Wildlife Explorer collectible · Peacock Butterfly
🦋 Discover the Peacock Butterfly
The Peacock Butterfly is one of Europe's most recognizable butterflies, with four large eyespots on its wings.
🔎 At a glance
- Animal group: Insect
- Region: Europe
- Conservation status: Not evaluated (NE)
- Food: Nectar; caterpillars feed on nettles
🌿 Where does it live?
You can find the Peacock Butterfly in gardens, forest edges, and field margins — wherever flowers and nettles are present.
🌼 What does it eat?
Adult butterflies drink nectar from various flowers; the caterpillars feed almost exclusively on nettle leaves.
❄️ How it lives
The Peacock Butterfly overwinters as an adult butterfly in a sheltered spot, such as a shed or hollow tree, and can produce two generations per year.
✨ Special features of this animal
Its four large eyespots resemble owl eyes and deter birds. When disturbed, the butterfly also makes a hissing sound by rubbing its wings together.
💡 Did you know?
- The Peacock Butterfly overwinters as an adult butterfly, not as a pupa.
- Caterpillars often live in groups on nettles.
- The eyespots help protect it from birds like robins.
- It is one of Europe's most common butterflies.
🌿 Threats & protection
There is no formal global IUCN assessment, but flower-rich verges and sufficient nettle patches keep the species common.
Discover why small animals have a big impact on the Biodiversity Expedition.
To the expedition →