Punctuation Butterflies of June at Bronte Creek Provincial Park in Ontario

I have now seen at least 31 species of butterflies nectaring, sunning, mudpuddling, basking and patrolling territories at Bronte Creek Provincial Park in Ontario so far this summer. Here are a few of the ones I saw in late June.

Punctuation Butterflies Make Me “Question” My Identification Skills

The tiny white mark on the underside of the wings of this butterfly suggest it is a Question Mark. These butterflies move north into southern Ontario in the spring, laying eggs as they travel. One as new and fresh as this likely grew up as a caterpillar here at Bronte Creek and hatched out recently to find a partner and create more fertile eggs.

Photo of Question Mark One Undersides on NaturalCrooksDotCom

Photo of Question Mark One Upperside on NaturalCrooksDotCom

With its wings open, you can see that one of the black spots is like a dash or hyphen drawn above a curving line of three other black dots. That’s another good sign that this is probably a Question Mark.

What Colour is This Comma?

The next “punctuation” butterfly I found was smaller than the Question Marks and was under attack! A Crescent butterfly was very upset with it and kept battering at it trying to force it to fly away.

This Grey Comma has a very small white mark, shaped somewhat like a check mark or an L on the underside.

Photo of Grey Comma Underside on NaturalCrooksDotCom

On the wing tops, the black spots are small and few in number.

Photo of Grey Comma Upperside on NaturalCrooksDotCom

This one seemed so colourful I suspected it may have just emerged from its chrysalis recently.

Which Direction Is This Comma Pointing?

Photo of Eastern Comma Trunk on NaturalCrooksDotCom

I would not have noticed this Eastern Comma perched on a trunk if another butterfly had not made me look for it. A Northern Pearly-eye was patrolling along the edge of a trail and it repeatedly stopped and fluttered near this spot. When I looked, I saw the Eastern Comma that had captured its attention.

Eastern Commas have a mark somewhat like a smile with a thick line at each end on the underside. This one was not interested in showing off its orange uppersides.

I’d better share this before I get called away again. Hopefully I can share some more of the early July butterflies soon!

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Have you seen any “punctuation” Polygonia butterflies this year? Please share your sighting with a comment.

 

 

 

 

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