Viennese peacock moth

Styria: Giant butterfly returns!

The large peacock moth grows up to 16 centimetres in size.

(Bild: Johannes Gepp Naturschutzbund Steiermark)

What wonderful news: the palm-sized, magnificent Viennese peacock moth, which became extinct in Austria many years ago due to acid rain, is now back in Styria! Years of research, elaborate breeding and "butterfly parents" have made this possible.

"I can still remember it clearly: back in the 1960s, our trees were full of Viennese peacock butterflies! These beautiful butterflies, which have a wingspan of up to 16 centimetres, i.e. the size of a hand, hung everywhere on fruit trees," recalls Johannes Gepp, President of the Styrian Nature Conservation Association.

Johannes Gepp, President of the Styrian Nature Conservation Association

(Bild: Jauschowetz Christian)

Meticulous research into causes
But then they were gone. "As a young biologist, I really wanted to know why. So we hung large fabric cages on trees to breed them. And noticed that the caterpillars deposited in them had died, they were downright moldy."

The young researcher also discovered why: "It was the acid rain! The acid corroded the caterpillars' skin. By 1980, the peacock moth was unfortunately completely extinct in our state."

One animal lays up to 200 eggs.

(Bild: Johannes Gepp Naturschutzbund )

However, years of effort have now made the good news possible: the magnificent butterfly - which otherwise occurs in North Africa, but gets its name from the fact that it was first discovered in Vienna - can be released on a large scale again!

The caterpillars are beautiful and up to eleven centimetres long!

(Bild: J. Gepp Naturschutzbund Steiermark)

Animal neighborhood help
"My colleague Frank Weihmann started a major program five years ago," praises Gepp. Caterpillars were brought from Burgenland and Vienna, where the peacock butterfly remained native - because the acid rain was only weakened by more wind. "Weihmann then looked for butterfly parents, namely Styrians, who put the 2,000 caterpillars in their home gardens on the fruit trees." Incidentally, these only eat the leaves, not the fruit, "and since a tree has an average of 20,000 leaves, the few missing leaves don't matter".

The caterpillar spins itself into real silk on the tree, and the butterfly only emerges about a year later!

(Bild: Johanes Gepp Naturschutzbund Steiermark)

And the first reports of finds, especially from the area around Radkersburg to Graz, show this spring: "Our experiments are successful! Next year we will release them on an even larger scale!" Larvae are also bred in cages for this purpose, which are then taken outside. Only after the birds have bred - because unfortunately they like to eat the caterpillars, which of course decimates the success.

Interesting facts about the peacock moth

• A butterfly lays up to 200 eggs and it takes two months for the last caterpillar stage to appear
• The butterfly only hatches a year later
• It does not feed, has no feeding tools at all
• A male butterfly has large antennae and can detect a female up to twelve kilometers away
• The Vienna peacock moth is the largest butterfly in Europe
• Its main habitat is northern Africa, it is only called that because it was first discovered in Vienna

Gepp is confident: "We will once again become the land of these beautiful butterflies! And we will have gained a piece of nature from the past." The cornerstone for this is: "That the air quality has improved so much that the caterpillars can thrive again."