Beschreibung:
<jats:p>1. Peacock butterflies, <jats:italic>Inachis io</jats:italic>, were tested experimentally for their preferences for nectar sugars.</jats:p><jats:p>2. In tests with different plain sugar solutions (25%, weight to total weight) the butterflies strongly preferred sucrose and fructose over glucose. They also preferred sucrose over fructose.</jats:p><jats:p>3. In tests with mixed sugar solutions the butterflies clearly preferred both sucrose‐dominant (sucrose : hexoses = 5 : 1) and balanced sugar solutions (sucrose : glucose : fructose = 1 : 1 : 1) over hexose‐dominant sugar solutions (sucrose : hexoses = 1 : 5).</jats:p><jats:p>4. Females consumed significantly more of the balanced sugar solution than did males.</jats:p><jats:p>5. These results are discussed with respect to previous experiments on nectar preferences of butterflies, nectar sugar composition of butterfly‐pollinated flowers, and flower preferences, physiological and reproductive aspects of butterflies.</jats:p>