Home Importance Ants of Nebraska Butterflies of Nebraska Carrion Beetles of Nebraska Tiger Beetles of Nebraska
 
Butterfly Families County Records Butterfly Larvae Host Plants
 
Brushfoot Gossamer Skipper
Swallowtail White and Sulpher Woodnymph
     
Eastern Comma

Polygonia comma - male - summer form

Pictured above Summer Form

Polygonia comma - male - fall form

Pictured above Fall Form



 

 
Polygonia comma (Harris, 1842)
Status: Common resident.
Flight Period(s): At least two flights. Recorded in Nebraska from 7 April – 16 November. Adults sometimes emerge on warm winter days as evidenced by a 25 February record from Furnas County. In 2005 it has been found at several locations in early March.
Range: Found from New England south to northern Florida west to eastern Texas, eastern Wyoming and southern Manitoba. Statewide in Nebraska, although not yet being found (but expected) in the southern panhandle or extreme southwest.
Larval Hostplant(s): Elms, common and ornamental hops, bog hemp, wood nettle and stinging nettle (Ulmus species, Humulus species, Boehmeria cylindrica, Laportea canadensis and Urtica dioica).
Overwinter: As adults.
Commentary/Habitat: The Eastern Comma is named for the silver marking on the ventral hind wing. Adults are found in open woodlands and woodland margins. As with other Polygonia adults visit flowers but prefer sap flows, rotting fruit, dung and mud and are early spring fliers. As with the Question Mark, P. comma exhibits overwintering (comma) and summer (dryas) forms, the latter with a largely black dorsal hind wing.
Similar Species: The Eastern Comma lacks the dash toward the apex of the forewing, is slightly smaller and has a more rounded appearance than the Question Mark. The rare (extreme western Nebraska) Satyr Comma differs in having the spot at the base of the dorsal forewing elongated upward and split by a vein to appear as two spots. The Hoary Comma (western Nebraska) lacks the brown shading on the ventral hindwing, with the outer half being a pale silver gray. The Gray Comma (statewide) is almost uniformly dark on the ventral hindwing with the silver marking having no curved parts (two straight lines connected at an angle).