Polygonia progne

Polygonia progne, the gray comma or grey comma, is a species of Polygonia that occurs in North America.

Polygonia progne
Conservation status
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Polygonia
Species:	P. progne
Binomial name
Polygonia progne (Cramer, 1775)
Subspecies
P. p. progne (Scott, 1988) P. p. nigrozephyrus (Scott, 1984)
Synonyms
Nymphalis progne Papilio progne (Cramer, 1775) Polygonia l-argenteum (Scudder, 1875)

Description

Its wingspan is between 4.4 and 6.3 cm. The top of the wings is bright orange brown while the summer forms often have a dark border on the hindwing. Both winter and summer forms have few yellow spots on their wing borders. The underside of the wings have L-shaped silver markings and are charcoal gray.

Habitat

They can often be found around dirt roads and stream beds. Most often they are found in hilly terrain or canyon lands.

Life cycle

The adults are on wing two times a year, once in April and May and another in June and August. During the first flight the adults mate and lay eggs. These eggs will hatch and become the summer generation. The summer generation's eggs will hatch in October and hibernate.

Larval foods

• Gooseberry
• Azalea

Adult foods

• Plant sap
• Rarely flower nectar

References

• Markku Savela. "Nymphalis progne (Cramer, [1775])". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
• "Species Polygonia progne - Gray Comma". Retrieved 2008-11-18.

External links

• Grey comma, Butterflies of Canada