Polygonia c-album

Polygonia c-album
Dorsal view
Ventral view of the hutchinsoni form showing light-coloured wing undersides
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Polygonia
Species:	P. c-album
Binomial name
Polygonia c-album (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
Eight, see text
Synonyms[1]
List Grapta agnicula Moore, 1872 Nymphalis c-album (Linnaeus, 1758) Papilio c-album Linnaeus, 1758 Polygonia castanea Verity, 1950 Polygonia delta-album Joseph, 1919 Polygonia elongana Cabeau, 1926 Polygonia extincta Rebel, 1923 Polygonia i-album Maslowscy, 1923 Polygonia immaculata Dioszeghy, 1935 Polygonia imperfecta Blachier, 1908 Polygonia manchurica Matsumura, 1939 Polygonia nigracastanea Verity, 1950 Polygonia nigrolunaria Nitsche, 1912 Polygonia nubilata Lempke, 1956 Polygonia o-album Newnham, 1917 Polygonia obscura Hannemann, 1915 Polygonia p-album Bezsilla, 1943 Polygonia pallida Tutt, 1896 Polygonia pusilla Stichel, 1908 Polygonia uncipuncta Joseph, 1919 Polygonia variegata Tutt, 1896 Polygonia vilarrubiai Perez de-Gregorie & Masó Planas, 1976 Vanena hutchinsoni Robson, 1880 Vanessa c-album (Linnaeus, 1758) Vanessa cloqueti Clement, 1917 Vanessa comma-alba Miller, 1821 Vanessa f-album Esper, 1783 Vanessa g-album Fourcroy, 1785 Vanessa lutescens Harcourt-Bath, 1896 Vanessa melanosticta Stephens, 1856

Polygonia c-album, or the “comma”, is a food generalist (polyphagous) butterfly species belonging to the family Nymphalidae. The angular notches on the edges of the forewings are characteristic of the genus Polygonia, which is why species in the genus are commonly referred to as anglewing butterflies. Comma butterflies can be identified by their prominent orange and dark brown/black dorsal wings.

Both the larval and adult stages exhibit protective camouflage, mimicking bird droppings and fallen leaves respectively, which reduces predation. The pupae are also cryptic, resembling shriveled leaves. During the later stage of development, the larvae also develop strong spines along their backs. The species is commonly found in Europe, North Africa, and Asia, and contains several subspecies. Although the species is not migratory, the butterflies are strong fliers, resulting in an open population structure with high gene flow and increased genetic variation.