Nymphalidae : Nymphalinae
Comma
POLYGONIA c-album (Linnaeus, 1758)
Comma
POLYGONIA c-album (Linnaeus, 1758)
Life Cycle Guide
Description
Wingspan: Male : 41-49mm : Female : 40-52mm
Worldwide Distribution: Europe-Except some mediterranean Islands and extreme areas in the north : NW Africa : Asia Minor : Near East : Transcaucasia : Caucasus : Iran : Temperate Asia.
UK Distribution: Widespread in England and Wales : Slowly extending its range into Scotland : Rarely seen in Ireland.
UK Conservation Status -
Flight Period: UK-Late June-September : Hibernating individuals appear again March-May although during mild winters could appear anytime : Univoltine : South of Range-May-October : Late February-May : Bivoltine & Trivoltine.
Habitat: Various open woodland and wood edges for breeding and hibernation.
Ovum: Although the larva is polyphagous the most common plants used by the female when depositing an ovum is Nettle,Hop or Elm.The single egg is laid on the upper edge of the leaf,usually at the tip. Nettles beside a wood are usually the preferred location where they hatch after two or three weeks.
Larva: The emerged tiny caterpilar moves to the underside of the leaf and forms a protective web made from silk where it feeds of the soft tissue.The fully grown caterpilar is light brown with white marking making it look like a bird dropping.
Pupa: The pretty chrysalis attaches itself to the underside of a low growing Hop or Nettle leaf creating the appearance of a withered leaf.
Overwinters as: Hibernating adult
Observations: The Comma butterfly can be seen in a variety of colours from the bright orange of form hutchinsonii (see photos 4 & 6 below) to a deeper red as seen in photos 1 & 7 below,the latter being the majority of the pre-hibernating offspring.
Prior to hibernating Comma can be found in gardens where they search out fallen fruits etc to build up fat reserves to get them through the winter.
The two determining features of the Comma are the jagged edged wing shape which takes on the appearance of a leaf when the wings are closed (See photo 2) and clearly provides the butterfly with camouflage during hibernation amongst dead leaves, and the white comma marking clearly visible again on the same photo 2 which gives the butterfly its name.
The butterfly declined dramatically in the twentieth century but has now reversed that trend and is expending its range north probably as a result of climate change.
The Comma larva, with its white a brown flecks has good camouflage protection, like the imago, by looking like a bird dropping.
Worldwide Distribution: Europe-Except some mediterranean Islands and extreme areas in the north : NW Africa : Asia Minor : Near East : Transcaucasia : Caucasus : Iran : Temperate Asia.
UK Distribution: Widespread in England and Wales : Slowly extending its range into Scotland : Rarely seen in Ireland.
UK Conservation Status -
- Least Concern - Red List
- Least Concern
- Papilio c-album (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Sweden
Flight Period: UK-Late June-September : Hibernating individuals appear again March-May although during mild winters could appear anytime : Univoltine : South of Range-May-October : Late February-May : Bivoltine & Trivoltine.
Habitat: Various open woodland and wood edges for breeding and hibernation.
Ovum: Although the larva is polyphagous the most common plants used by the female when depositing an ovum is Nettle,Hop or Elm.The single egg is laid on the upper edge of the leaf,usually at the tip. Nettles beside a wood are usually the preferred location where they hatch after two or three weeks.
Larva: The emerged tiny caterpilar moves to the underside of the leaf and forms a protective web made from silk where it feeds of the soft tissue.The fully grown caterpilar is light brown with white marking making it look like a bird dropping.
Pupa: The pretty chrysalis attaches itself to the underside of a low growing Hop or Nettle leaf creating the appearance of a withered leaf.
Overwinters as: Hibernating adult
Observations: The Comma butterfly can be seen in a variety of colours from the bright orange of form hutchinsonii (see photos 4 & 6 below) to a deeper red as seen in photos 1 & 7 below,the latter being the majority of the pre-hibernating offspring.
Prior to hibernating Comma can be found in gardens where they search out fallen fruits etc to build up fat reserves to get them through the winter.
The two determining features of the Comma are the jagged edged wing shape which takes on the appearance of a leaf when the wings are closed (See photo 2) and clearly provides the butterfly with camouflage during hibernation amongst dead leaves, and the white comma marking clearly visible again on the same photo 2 which gives the butterfly its name.
The butterfly declined dramatically in the twentieth century but has now reversed that trend and is expending its range north probably as a result of climate change.
The Comma larva, with its white a brown flecks has good camouflage protection, like the imago, by looking like a bird dropping.
Photo Gallery
Forms
P. c. f.reichstensis Fettig,1893
P. c. f.reichstensis Fettig,1893
Summer Brood - P. c. f.hutchinsonii Robson, 1881
Ovum
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website
where further information like photos,physical
characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal
uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
- Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
- Betulaceae - The Birch Family
- Corylus avellana - Hazel
- Cannabidaceae - Hemp/Hop Family
- Humulus lupulus - Hop
- Grossulariaceae - Currant Family
- Ribes alpinum - Alpine Currant
- Ribes nigrum - Blackcurrant
- Ribes rubrum - Redcurrant
- Ribes uva-crispa - Gooseberry
- Ribes alpinum - Alpine Currant
- Rosaceae - Rose Family
- Rubus idaeus - Raspberry - Framboise
- Salicaceae - Willow Family
- Salix alba - White Willow
- Salix aurita - Eared Sallow
- Salix caprea - Goat Willow
- Salix cinerea - Grey Willow
- Salix pulchra - Tealeaf Willow
- Ulmaceae - Elm Family
- Ulmus glabra - Wych Elm - Scots Elm
- Ulmus laevis - European White Elm
- Ulmus minor var. minor - Smooth-leaved Elm - Narrow-leafed Elm
- Ulmus procera - English Elm - Common Elm
- Ulmus glabra - Wych Elm - Scots Elm
- Urticaeae - Nettle Family
- Urtica dioica - Stinging Nettle - Common Nettle
- Note - Larvae also feed on the following plant families
- Caprifoliaceae - Lonicera - Honeysuckle
- Rosaceae - Prunus - Plum
- Cannabidaceae - Celtis - Hackberries
- Note - Larvae also feed on the following plant families
- Urtica dioica - Stinging Nettle - Common Nettle
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily: Tribe: Genus: Accepted Species Name: Original Genus/Species Group Names: Species Names: Literary Ref: Type Locality: Forms/Aberrations: Subspecies: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Papilionoidea Nymphalidae Nymphalinae Nymphalini POLYGONIA Hübner, [1819] Polygonia c-album (Linnaeus, 1758) - PAPILIO c-album (Linnaeus, 1758) = Nymphalis c-album Linnaeus, 1758 = Papilio f-album Esper, 1783 = Vanessa f-album Esper, 1783 = Polygonia g-album Fourcroy, 1785 = Vanessa g-album Fourcroy, 1785 = Vanessa comma-alba Miller, 1821 = Vanessa melanosticta Stephens, 1856 = Polygonia marsyas Edwards, 1870 = Grapta agnicula Moore, 1872 = Vanessa hutchinsoni Robson, 1880 = Polygonia variegata Tutt, 1896 = Vanessa lutescens Harcourt-Bath, 1896 = Polygonia imperfecta Blachier, 1908 = Polygonia pusilla Stichel, 1908 = Polygonia pictior Verity, 1919 = Polygonia extincta Rebel, 1923 = Polygonia i-album Maslowscy, 1923 = Polygonia elongana Cabeau, 1926 = Polygonia c-album chingana Kleinschmidt, 1929 = Polygonia sagitta Frohawk, 1938 = Polygonia suffusa Frohawk, 1938 = Polygoniacastanea Verity, 1950 - Syst. Nat. (Edn 10) 1 : Title page : p.477 n.115 - Sweden - P.c. carbonaria Verity, 1916 P.c. c-extinctum Gillmer, 1907 P.c. delta-album Joseph, 1919 P.c. dilutus Frohawk, 1938 P.c. extincta Rebel, 1920 P.c. g-album Tutt, 1896 P.c. i-album Tutt, 1896 P.c. imperfecta Blachier, 1908 P.c. iota-album Newnham, 1894 P.c. neole Oliver, 1937 P.c. nigracastanea Verity, 1950 P.c. o-album Tutt, 1896 P.c. obscura Closs, 1916 P.c. ab. reichstettensis Fettig, 1893 P.c. sagitta-album Frohawk, 1938 P.c. suffusa Frohawk, 1938 P.c. variegata Tutt, 1896 P.c. f.hutchinsoni Robson, 1881 - summer brood - - P.c.c-album Linnaeus, 1758-North Africa P.c.agnicula Moore, 1872-Nepal P.c.asakurai Nakahara, 1920 P.c.extensa c-album Leech 1892-western and central China P.c.hamigera Butler, 1877 P.c.imperfecta Blachier, 1908-North Africa P.c.koreana Bryk, 1946 P.c.kultukensis Kleinschmidt, 1929 P.c.sachalinensis Matsumura, 1915 |
