OF THE five, or possibly six butterflies (if we count the occasional painted lady) that will soon be appearing after hibernation, surely the peacock is the most beautiful.

Those colourful roundels or false eyes on the wings are not just for decoration but serve a vital purpose.

If a peacock is approached by a predator it employs two methods of defence.

Firstly, it will move its forewings back and forth rapidly to display eyespots on the hindwings also, which any bird or perhaps mouse might mistake for real eyes and back off.

Secondly, when moving the wings it creates a loud rasping sound and again, any predator may hesitate, thus allowing the butterfly to escape.

Some years ago I had a peacock in a cardboard box to use for breeding purposes.

Opening the box to place the butterfly in a flight cage it immediately created the rasping sound, amplified by the box, and I was so startled that I dropped the box and away flew the peacock. So its ruse worked on me.

Relatively common, although like many species, not as abundant as a few decades ago, peacocks would no doubt be much sought after by collectors if they were rare.

Fortunately and hopefully butterfly collectors are a thing of the past, replaced by photography which enables butterflies to be shown in their natural habitats instead of being pinned in rows in dusty cabinets.

Spiky black peacock caterpillars can be seen in large groups feeding on nettles in May.

Butterflies emerge in late June and will fly into autumn before hibernating in tree holes, sheds and even among our curtains.