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.
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.
On the wing tops, the black spots are small and few in number.
This one seemed so colourful I suspected it may have just emerged from its chrysalis recently.
Which Direction Is This Comma Pointing?
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.