Peacock
Aglais io (Linnaeus, 1758)
Status not recordedbutterflies and moths
The peacock (Aglais io) is an insect in the butterflies and moths group, belonging to the family Nymphalidae in the order Lepidoptera. It is also called the peacock butterfly or European peacock butterfly.
Quick facts about the peacock
It is placed in the subfamily Nymphalinae, tribe Nymphalini and genus Aglais, within the superfamily Papilionoidea. The scientific name carries the authority (Linnaeus, 1758).
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 4.5 cm – 6.2 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Scavengersrc for Diet
- Main food
- flowerssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- forest, grassland, human_modified, shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- On the wing
- March to Octobersrc for On the wing
- Generations a year
- Twosrc for Generations a year
- Larval food plants
- Urticaceae familysrc for Larval food plants
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the peacock?
Photos of the peacock
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
_caterpillars_on_stinging_nettle_(Urtica_dioica)_Ruggeller_Riet.jpg){kind=link}
Where does the peacock live?
Not recorded
What is the peacock?
Aglais io, the European peacock, or the peacock butterfly, is a colourful butterfly, found in Europe and temperate Asia as far east as Japan. The peacock butterfly is resident in much of its range, often wintering in buildings or trees. It therefore often appears quite early in spring.
The peacock butterfly has figured in research in which the role of eyespots as an anti-predator mechanism has been investigated. The peacock is expanding its range and is not known to be threatened.
In a 2026 poll conducted by Butterfly Conservation, the peacock butterfly was declared Britain's favourite butterfly.
From the Wikipedia article “Aglais io” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aglais_io&oldid=1380253580), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the peacock sound like?
Is the peacock endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the peacock classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderLepidoptera
- familyNymphalidae
- genusAglais
- SpeciesAglais io (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Inachis io, Inachis nigrolimbata, Inachis oligoio, Nymphalis antigone, Nymphalis belisaria, Nymphalis fischeri, Nymphalis griseocellata, Nymphalis io, Nymphalis ioides, Nymphalis sardoa, Papilio io, Papilio ioides, Vanessa astrida, Vanessa basi-obscura, Vanessa bimaculata, Vanessa calorefacta, Vanessa cyanosticta, Vanessa dyophthalmica, Vanessa exmaculata, Vanessa exoculata, Vanessa extrema, Vanessa fulva, Vanessa hackrayi, Vanessa io, Vanessa io ioides, Vanessa irenea, Vanessa jo, Vanessa jocaste, Vanessa lacteus, Vanessa lucidocellata, Vanessa magnimaculata, Vanessa marginalis, Vanessa marginimaculata-obscura, Vanessa meilhani, Vanessa mesoides, Vanessa mesoides-brunnea, Vanessa mesoides-clara, Vanessa mesoides-lucidocellata, Vanessa mesoides-parvimaculata, Vanessa mesoides-sibirica, Vanessa mesoides-splendens, Vanessa mesoides-viridiocellata, Vanessa narses, Vanessa nigrifasciata, Vanessa nigriocellata, Vanessa nigromaculata, Vanessa pallens, Vanessa pallida, Vanessa parvimaculata, Vanessa pavo, Vanessa prochnovi, Vanessa silaceus, Vanessa splendens, Vanessa teloides, Vanessa teloides-brunnea, Vanessa teloides-clara, Vanessa teloides-lucidocellata, Vanessa teloides-nigrifasciata, Vanessa teloides-splendens, Vanessa transparens
Other names and names in other languages (72)
- European peacock butterflyEnglish
- Peacock butterflyEnglish
- Peacock butterflyEnglish
- فراشة طاووسية أوروبيةArabic
- DogpfaunaugBavarian
- Паўлінава вокаBelarusian
- Дневно пауново окоBulgarian
- Paó diürnCatalan
- Paó de diaCatalan
- babočka paví okoCzech
- Mantell PaunWelsh
- Mentyll PeunodWelsh
- DagpåfugleøjeDanish
- Dag-påfugleøjeDanish
- Paafugle-takvingeDanish
- TagpfauenaugeGerman
- Πεταλούδα παγώνιGreek
- Taga pavoEsperanto
- Pavo realSpanish
- Mariposa pavorrealSpanish
- PäevapaabusilmEstonian
- Pauma tximeletaBasque
- neitoperhonenFinnish
- Paon du jourFrench
- Paon-du-jourFrench
- Deipau-eachWestern Frisian
- PéacógIrish
- Péacóg (féileacán)Irish
- peucagScottish Gaelic
- coileach-peucaigScottish Gaelic
- coilich-pheucaigScottish Gaelic
- peucag-EòrpachScottish Gaelic
- peucaganScottish Gaelic
- Bolboreta pavo realGalician
- PeacagManx
- נימפית הטווסHebrew
- Danji paunCroatian
- Danje paunčeCroatian
- PawownikUpper Sorbian
- Nappali pávaszemHungarian
- páfiðrildiIcelandic
- Vanessa ioItalian
- Occhio di pavoneItalian
- クジャクチョウJapanese
- 공작나비Korean
- PfauenaLuxembourgish
- FauenaLuxembourgish
- PohunnenaLuxembourgish
- SpungėLithuanian
- Acainais raibenisLatvian
- dagpåfugløyeNorwegian Bokmål
- DagpauwoogDutch
- dagpåfuglaugeNorwegian Nynorsk
- rusałka pawikPolish
- مور پکھڑوںWestern Panjabi
- Pavão‑diurnoPortuguese
- Păun europeanRomanian
- Ochi de păun de ziRomanian
- Павлиний глазRussian
- Дневной павлиний глазRussian
- babôčka pávookáSlovak
- dnevni pavlinčekSlovenian
- Дневни пауновацSerbian
- påfågelögaSwedish
- ஐரோப்பிய மயில்Tamil
- TavuskelebeğiTurkish
- Павиче окоUkrainian
- Сонцевик павиче окоUkrainian
- Сонцевик павичеве окоUkrainian
- DagpauwogeWest Flemish
- 孔雀蛱蝶Chinese
- 孔雀蛺蝶Chinese
Relatives of the peacock
Other species in the same genus Aglais.
Small tortoiseshell
Aglais urticae
Milbert's tortoiseshell
Aglais milberti
Corsican small tortoiseshell
Aglais ichnusa
Indian tortoiseshell
Aglais caschmirensis
ComparePeacock vs Small tortoiseshellPeacock vs Milbert's tortoiseshellPeacock vs Corsican small tortoiseshellPeacock vs Indian tortoiseshell
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the peacock?
The peacock is an insect in the butterflies and moths group. It belongs to the order Lepidoptera.
What is the scientific name of the peacock?
The scientific name of the peacock is Aglais io.
Who named Aglais io and when?
The authority for Aglais io is written as (Linnaeus, 1758).
What family does the peacock belong to?
The peacock belongs to the family Nymphalidae, subfamily Nymphalinae and tribe Nymphalini.
What other names does the peacock have?
The peacock is also called the peacock butterfly and the European peacock butterfly.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Peacock (Aglais io). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/peacock
“Peacock (Aglais io).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/peacock.
@misc{peacock_2026,
title = {Peacock (Aglais io)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/peacock},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}