Comma Butterfly : 14 October 2022

We are in autumn here so we are grateful when we see a bit of sun. That must also be the case for other animals and insects like this beautiful butterfly I saw sunning itself to warm up - that’s what I think it was doing. Have a look :

I managed to get that close to the butterfly to take the photo. Despite the quality you can see quite clearly the shape of the wings : not smooth but quite rough around the edges. It is a comma butterfly ! I like the name of this butterfly full stop (that is a bad joke, sorry). The Latin name of this butterfly is also very impressive, Polygonia c-album.

You can have a look at the original photo I took from a distance below. The butterfly stood out against the woody background of that fence. After taking that first photo I walked slowly towards it but unfortunately it was not a good day to get a close up. I have nonetheless included both photos to hopefully give you an idea of much this bright insect stood out.

This website tells me what I already guessed : stinging nettle is the favourite food of this butterfly. I was warmly surprised by the revelation that they hibernate in woodland. I did not think they could survive the damp and cold, but apparently they do.

The species loves to bask

I used the ‘lens’ app of the phone to confirm the name of the butterfly. It had no problems finding it as it is now a common sight and, in fact, the article I linked above says that due to global warming this butterfly species has been able to expand its habitat to other parts of the country.

Thank you for stopping by.