Comma - Polygonia c-album

Upperside  

Family: Nymphalidae

Flight Time: Spring, Summer, hibernates.

Size: 44-48mm

Altitude: 0-2000m

 

Underside Called a Comma because of a white mark on the underwing which looks a bit like a comma. Reasonably common in places in the south of the UK this can be a difficult species to find one year and then easy the next. The remarkable wing shape is an attempt to use leaves as camouflage to protect them from predators.

Top picture in Plymbridge Woods, Devon and the lower is pictured in the Atlas mountains, Morocco.

 

Fact File
Similar Species Foodplants Habitat Distribution

 

Nettle - UrticaNettle

Hop - Humulus

Woodland clearings.

Comma distribution

Change map to  
 

Early Stages

 

 Comma egg. Comma caterpillar. Comma pupa.
 
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