Great argus are solitary for most of the year, except when females visit male courtship arenas to breed (2) (5). Males maintain territories that include dancing grounds for their courtship displays, which they keep clear of leaves, sticks and twigs, and from here they call to advertise their presence to females (2). When a female arrives, the male circles her and spreads his wings into two impressive fans, flaunting hundreds of eye-spots (5). Mating is polygynous, and after mating, females depart to lay two eggs in a secluded scrape on the forest floor, where they are incubated for 24 to 25 days, with the male taking no part in nesting, incubation, or rearing of the young (2) (5) (7). Although the young chicks grow quickly and leave the nest soon after hatching, young may be slow to become independent, becoming sexually mature by their third year (7).
These birds roost in trees at night and forage in the leaf-litter of the forest floor by day, feeding on a variety of plant and invertebrate species (2).