Butterfly peacock eye - fluttering beauty

In ancient civilizations, butterflies saw a symbol of the soul that reached enlightenment, so in Ancient Greece the butterfly was called Psyche. On the surviving images, the goddess Psyche flutters on her wings like a butterfly. Legends of butterflies are full of legends of all the peoples of the earth. And everywhere it is associated with souls - like Catholics, Buddhists, and residents of New Zealand or Zaire. The ancient Slavs, when they saw the day butterfly, not only admired its beauty, but welcomed in it somebody's clean, deceased soul. In the night butterflies they saw the souls of the suffering dead. In this regard, the peacock eye butterfly can be considered with special interest.

First of all, this butterfly will not leave anyone indifferent due to its beauty. On its wings clearly visible patches, reminiscent of the patterns of the bright feathers of the peacock tail. This colorful, iridescent ornament is at the same time a secret weapon that preserves her life. The main enemy of these beauties is birds. As soon as the butterfly of the peacock eye falls into the field of view of this winged predator, it opens its wings, and the bird, when it sees such a beautiful and brilliant spot on its wings, freezes for a while. Perhaps she is frightened, maybe - surprised. This is enough to ensure that the butterfly flies and flies away from a dangerous enemy.

In our places there are different kinds of these butterflies in the forests and swamps, among the thickets of heather and nettles. Usually the span of their wings reaches three and a half centimeters, but the Viennese or nocturnal butterflies of this species, which are also found here, differ in that they have a wingspan of thirteen to fifteen centimeters. One of the largest butterflies of this genus is the butterfly of the day peacock eye or the Indian peacock eye. Its wingspan reaches twenty-five centimeters. During the flight, inexperienced people take this innocuous creature for a bird and even get frightened sometimes.

Butterfly peacock eye, as well as all other butterflies, leaving the winter hibernation, arranges in the thickets of nettle or fragrant hop, on apple or ash-tree leaves nests with eggs, from which a family of gluttonous caterpillars of black with spikes and ornaments from white dots And lines. Appearing from eggs, caterpillars very quickly creep onto the most delicate shoots of plants and begin to eat them.

Unusual coloring and bright "peacock" spot do not allow to confuse this butterfly with any other, but this is not the only beauty feature. The color of the wings and the brightness of the color depend on the temperature conditions under which the pupa was formed. The peacock eye is a butterfly that adapts very well to Habitat. For example, her pupa acquires a color exactly like the color of the object on which she is.

For wintering, the peacock butterfly chooses lofts of buildings or hollows of trees, mountain caves or cellars of houses. After wintering from the end of June to the middle of July, the butterflies flutter and mate in order to lay eggs. And already in August a new young generation appears.