Comma Butterfly
Polygonia c-album
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Comma Butterfly Polygonia c-album |
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Freshly-emerged, early season Comma (yellow spots in orange border) |
April colouring (form hutchinsoni) |
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Late season Comma (orange background in black border) |
July colouring |
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The Comma butterfly is instantly recognisable by its "ragged" wing outline, -- photos downgraded for internet (copyright e-barrett) |
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Above: Comma butterfly by Bob Clark (on his finger) |
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The side view shows the white "comma" mark that gives the butterfly its name |
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Link to Comma caterpillar (link not yet active) |
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The new generation that will complete its life cycle in the same year has a lighter underside wing and those that are destined to hibernate through the winter and fly the following year are darker; both well-camouflaged as a dead leaf. Males have a more variegated underside and females a plainer one. |
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Southern Comma Butterfly Polygonia egea |
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| The Southern Comma prevalent in Mediterranean Europe is less-patterned with fewer spots and less-angular wings. | The white mark on the underside is more like a Y than a comma |