August Entomology - Comma

Comma

Polygonia c-album

Family: Nymphalids

Wingspan: 5.0-6.4cm

On the wing: January to december

I spotted my first ever Comma this July, to be fair this is the only July I’ve tried to identify butterflies so no doubt I have passed many in previous years. It’s beauty and colour really struck me which is why it became the main feature in the August edition of The Monthly Illustration Club, a stationery subscription inspired by nature and the changing seasons.

The Comma is a medium-sized orange and brown butterfly. It gets it’s name from the comma shaped white spots on it’s underwing but I think the easiest way to identify is it with it’s distinctive jagged wings. At rest the butterfly looks like a dead leaf with the underside of the wings being brown. The comma overwinters here and can be seen all year round on woodland edges, or feeding on fallen fruit in Gardens. The first to emerge in the year are paler in colour, these will then go on to have a second brood whilst the darker later ones will overwinter as an adult. of the year is much paler in colour .

Both sexes search out nectar sources such as blackthorn blossom when they first emerge in the spring. The Comma is a sun lover so will spend plenty of time basking on tree trunks and woodpiles. The male chooses a favourite spot for his territory and will then make short flights and inspect any passing insects, he will fly for a few meters and then will return to the exact same spot. The female when laying an egg will keep stopping every few feet to find a suitable plant to lay a single egg.

Caterpillars feed on common nettle, currants, elms, hop and willows. During the 19th century the numbers of Comma butterfly significantly dropped, possibly because of the reduction in hop farming but it has since enjoyed a resurgence and is now widespread and not under threat.