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THE LIVING WORLD
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MISSED A PROGRAMME?
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PROGRAMME INFO |
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The Living WorldÌýis a gentle weekend natural history programme, presented by Lionel Kelleway, which aims to broadcast the best, most intimate encounters with British wildlife.
nhuradio@bbc.co.uk |
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LISTEN AGAIN Ìý25min |
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PRESENTER |
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"The Living World is the next best thing to being there. Our contributors are skilled naturalists who are able to reveal those fascinating facts about animals and plants that you don't always find in books. It's like having a personal guided tour of the countryside, without needing to leave the house."
Lionel Kelleway
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PROGRAMME DETAILS |
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Lionel Kelleway and Richard Fox of Butterfly Conservation follow the trail of the peacock butterfly.
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Peacock Butterflies
Lionel Kelleway and Richard Fox of Butterfly Conservation follow the trail of the peacock butterfly in a journey which takes them from a disused World War Two in February bunker to a nettle bed in Devon in May.
The war bunkers were formerly important for radar surveillance of enemy aircraft.Ìý TheyÌýare now used as sheep shelters, as well as beingÌýa useful site for hibernating butterflies and moths.Ìý
The peacock butterfly has spectacular red and blue colouring and large eye-spots.
They sit out the winter months in almost complete darkness awaiting a sufficient rise in temperature to entice them outside into spring.
They have an audio-visual defence system to deter predators during the winter.Ìý They flap their wings to briefly reveal the bright eyespots and produced a series of high pitched squeaking sounds to ward off intruders.
The adults tend to mate around March or April. The females lay their eggs in large irregular clusters on the undersides of young nettle leaves.
Richard and Lionel travelled to Orley Common in Devon in May to catch up with the hatchling caterpillars resting in the nettle beds.
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RELATED LINKS
91Èȱ¬ Science & Nature: Peacock Butterfly Factsheet
The 91Èȱ¬ is not responsible for the content of external websites
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