Gray comma
The gray comma is a butterfly with ragged edged wings that are bright orange brown on top. Underneath, its wings are charcoal grey, so when it closes them it looks like a dead leaf. A small silver mark shaped like an L hides on the underside.
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Fun facts
Unlike most butterflies, it hardly ever drinks from flowers. It prefers tree sap.
It flies twice a year, in spring and again in summer.
Summer butterflies often have a dark border on their back wings.
Its name comes from the little silver mark under its wing.
Most asked questions about Gray comma
?What does the gray comma eat?
The butterflies drink tree sap. The caterpillars eat gooseberry and azalea leaves.
?Why is it called the gray comma?
Because it is charcoal grey underneath and has a small silver mark there.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Polygonia progne
- Named by
- Cramer, 1775
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Grey comma
Where the facts come from
- Polygonia progne (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by D. Gordon E. Robertson. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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