Here's looking at you

Today's the day ......................... for a survival strategy

Our garden is full of butterflies today - it must be the weather for it.

This one - the Peacock - is one of my favourites with its unmistakable, spectacular eyes on the upperside of the hindwings. Of course, they're not real eyes - but they must appear very threatening to predators, such as mice, if they confront them head-on. This is just one of the features in the Peacocks' cunning strategy for survival.

The undersides of the wings employ a different technique altogether. Here there are no bright colours - in fact they are almost black. This provides perfect camouflage when the Peacock is at rest on a tree trunk, or when hibernating. Finally, in addition to large eyes and camouflage , this butterfly is able to make a hissing sound that is audible to human ears - by rubbing its wings together .

Scary stuff .................................