Inachis io is a very common resident. The Dutch population is sometimes supplemented by wandering individuals. The species occurs nearly all over the Netherlands, the butterfly being found in places with nectar-rich flowers in a wide variety of habitats. It seems not to have been so common in the 19th century, and at the beginning of the 20th century. The Dutch Monitoring Survey shows a steep decline in abundance in the 1990s Numbers fluctuate annually, probably due to fluctuations both in the number of migrating individuals and in the quality of its larval foodplant, Urtica dioica. The female lays her eggs on plants growing in the half shadow in damp places. It flies in one generation from mid-July until the end of August. It hibernates as an adult, and these butterflies fly from the end of March until the beginning of June.

Bron

Auteur(s)

Wynhoff, I., Swaay, C. van, Groenendijk, D., Bosveld, M., Bos, F.

Publicatie

• Bos, F., M. Bosveld, D. Groenendijk, C. van Swaay & I. Wynhoff 2006. De dagvlinders van Nederland, verspreiding en bescherming. Nederlandse Fauna 7. De Vlinderstichting, Wageningen en Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum Naturalis, European Invertebrate Survey, Nederland.