Comma

 

Comma

While working in the garden this week, we saw a Comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album)  They are quite common but this one came to rest on a newly planted pot. The soil was very wet and I wondered if it had landed there for a drink. It stayed for a short while, then fluttered away.

The Comma is one of the first butterflies to be seen, appearing from late February. They are common throughout the summer. Much of the males’ time is spent looking for a mate. Females mate with several males and will always choose well-fed healthy males. Favoured foodplants include the common nettle, elms, currants and willow, but nettle leaves are the most popular places for females to lay their eggs.

Comma in a previous year on Verbena bonariensis

A century ago, the Comma was a rare sight, but it is now widespread throughout England and Wales and is expanding ever northwards, spreading rapidly in Scotland, and making occasional appearances in Northern Ireland. Its relatively recent success is ascribed to climate change.

Showing underside of wing

Image cropped to show comma 

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

It is called the Comma because it has a white comma mark on its underwing. At rest, it resembles a dried leaf, which makes it difficult to spot when it’s on a tree or hibernating. Although early adult butterflies generally live for about a month, there are two breeding cycles. The later, summer breeding produces butterflies which hibernate, emerging the following spring to produce the next generation. In late summer adults preparing to hibernate can be seen feasting on blackberries and over-ripe plums to build up their reserves for the winter ahead.