European Peacock

Aglais io

Average (Monogamous)

The **European Peacock** (*Aglais io*) is a flying Eurasian insect featured in the Grasslands Animal Pack DLC for *Planet Zoo*.

## Zoopedia Description

### General

**Population In Wild:** Unknown

The European peacock (or Aglais io) is a species of butterfly living throughout the temperate grasslands and woodlands of Europe and Asia. It has four red wings with brown edges and distinctive eye spots. These eye spots may be made up of yellow, blue, red or purple scales and have black surrounding marks. The undersides of the wings are brown to black. Males and females look alike, although females may be up to 10% larger than males. European peacocks reach a wingspan of 2in to 2.56in. Caterpillars of the European peacock are black and hairy, and the chrysalises are green with pointed ridges on the dorsal side.

European peacocks are not endangered and are considered a species of Least Concern.

### Social

The European peacock is largely solitary and males may defend their territory from other males they encounter.

### Reproduction

European peacock females are only receptive for mating after hibernation in spring, towards the end of their lifespan in May and roughly a year after their emergence. Due to the shorter lifespan of males, this results in a mostly monogamous mating system where males and females only mate with one partner. A male European peacock aggressively defends his territory, typically around sun-exposed flowers, against rival males. He will attempt to pursue females feeding from the flowers within his territory. Females will take off in flight when approached, and will only mate with a male that can keep up with them during the pursuit. If a female accepts a male, the pair lands on a leaf to mate by facing away from each other and joining their abdomens.

After mating, she will lay large batches of eggs, approximately 400 at a time, on the underside of a sunny nettle leaf. This process may be repeated up to 3 times. Caterpillars hatch from the eggs 1 to 2 weeks after laying and create a communal silk web around their birth leaf. They all feed from this leaf until it is skeletal, after which they disperse and feed independently.

The caterpillars of the European peacock go through five instars – developmental phases – over a period of approximately 3 weeks before finding a hidden place to pupate. Pupation lasts 2 to 4 weeks depending on environmental conditions, after which they emerge as adult butterflies in July.

## Animal Care

 HABITAT ENRICHMENT
Nectar Feeder · Ripe Fruits · Sugar Water Dish · Milkweed · Buddleja · Potted Trees · Mister · Tropical Fern

## Trivia

### Zoopedia Fun Facts

* The European peacock butterfly can make a hissing noise that is audible to human ears by rubbing its wings together, which appears to aid in warding off rodent predators.
* The European peacock butterfly’s wing pattern is a defense mechanism, with the eye spots and butterfly body looking like a bird’s eyes and beak to scare off predators.
* Many of the caterpillars of the European peacock butterfly fall victim to parasitic wasps.
* In Japan, the European butterfly is a positive symbol for a happy marriage.
* The underside of the European peacock’s wings are camouflaged to look like a dead leaf. This comes in especially useful when they hibernate through winter.