Inachis io
Wingspan: 63-69mm
Description
This beautiful large butterfly is one of the easiest to identify. The base colour is chestnut red, marked with black with a purple eyespot on each wing.
Flight Period
Like the Small Tortoiseshell & Comma the Peacock overwinters as an adult, often in outhouses and garages.it can be one of the first butterflies to be seen in the year. It can be seen in most months but is scarce between mid-June to mid-July.
Larval Food plants
Nettle (Urtica dioica)
Habitat Requirements
Woods, Copses, Hedgerows and mature gardens.
Wiltshire Status
Resident, common / frequent and widespread,
Wiltshire Sites
Occurs in all suitable habitat.
Earliest sightings
Earliest county record 1st January 1999 & 2000
Latest county record
28th December 2002