Punctuation butterflies . . . and others
In one of my A to Z challenge posts, I featured a photograph of a Comma butterfly. Lynn, from Precious, commented that there were Eastern Commas where she lives, in Ohio. She mentioned that there were also Question Mark butterflies in her area.
This intrigued me and led me to wonder if there were any other grammatical insects. There follows a list of the ones I’ve found so far. I’m sure it’s not an exhaustive record and would love to know if anyone knows of any others.
All
photographs are courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Comma
butterfly (Polygonia c-album)
Found in
Europe, widespread in England and Ireland
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Eastern
Comma (Polygonia comma, also known as the
hop merchant or the comma anglewing)
Can be
seen in North America
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Question
mark butterfly (Polygonia
interrogationis)
Found in
Eastern USA, Canada and Mexico
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Exclamation
moth (Homaledra heptathalama, commonly
called the Palmetto feeder)
Find this
in South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana
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Exclamation
froghopper (Neophilaenus exclamationis)
Widespread
in Britain and Ireland
Full Stop
butterfly or Full Stop Swift (Caltoris cormasa)
Can be
found in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore
Parenthesis
Lady beetle (Hippodamia parenthesis)
Find this
in North America
How
about some mathematical insects? Inchworm?
Just love the Parenthesis Ladybird!
ReplyDeleteLovely, isn't she?
ReplyDeleteWe could use this insects for punctuation in a novel, lol. Love it.
ReplyDeleteThat would enliven the dullest novel!
DeleteHow interesting; I only knew of the comma butterfly. By the way, I don't have a blog. I'm tempted but wary of the effort it would involve. I'm so grateful for those who do!
ReplyDeleteIt can take over, like any hobby :-)
DeleteWe would love an apostrophe slug (or snail) - OK not insects - apostrophe mayfly perhaps....
ReplyDeleteYou have to look pretty hard and with an open mind to identify the punctuation marks. An apostrophe mayfly would be appropriate for such delicate insects - or a lacewing, maybe?
ReplyDeleteI didn't know any of these insects before reading your post. So I can't add to the list, but I have certainly learned from it! Butterflies are masters at both standing out and blending in, aren't they? It all depends on your perspective.
ReplyDeleteButterflies are fascinating - such brief, beautiful lives.
DeleteHow fascinating, I was only aware of the Comma butterfly, whose common name in Flemish has nothing whatsoever to do with punctuation! xxx
ReplyDeleteI think you have to look very hard to identify the marks.
ReplyDelete