Kingdom Animalia Order Lepidoptera Tribe Nymphalini Scientific name Polygonia gracilis Rank Species | Phylum Arthropoda Family Nymphalidae Genus Polygonia Higher classification Polygonia | |
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Similar Butterfly, Polygonia, Polygonia satyrus, Polygonia faunus, Polygonia progne | ||
The hoary comma (Polygonia gracilis) is a species of butterfly, common in boreal North America from Alaska, across southern Canada to New England and the Maritime Provinces and south to New Mexico from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The wings have a distinctive ragged edge.
Adult butterflies feed on tree sap and nectar from flowers. Caterpillars feed on shrub leaves including currant, western azalea and mock azalea.
The species survives the winter in the adult stage in diapause and mate and lay eggs in the spring. Butterflies emerge from their chrysalids in midsummer.
References
Hoary comma Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA