Comma butterfly
Polygonia c-album
Butterfly
The comma is a medium-sized nymphalid named for the small white comma-shaped mark on its cryptic, leaf-like hindwing underside; its ragged wing margins are distinctive even at rest. Adults visit a wide range of garden flowers including buddleia in summer and autumn-flowering sedums as they build reserves before hibernation, and they also take tree sap and overripe fruit. Larvae feed mainly on stinging nettle but also use hop, elm, willow, and currant. The species is expanding its northern range in Britain and is an increasingly regular garden visitor.
Plants in the catalog
Nectar plants · 3
Range
Broadly distributed from western Europe east through temperate Asia to Japan, and south into North Africa; absent from the Americas. This is a distinct species from the North American eastern comma (Polygonia comma). It is currently expanding northward in Britain.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
Use this citation for the Plotwright wildlife record. Use the source cards below to explore the references that informed its taxonomy, range, conservation, host plants, foraging, and habitat.
Plotwright. (n.d.). Comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album). Retrieved 2026, August 20, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/european-comma
Sources used for this record
This record is compiled from the sources below.
Polygonia c-album - Wikipedia
Identification, Old-World range, larval hosts (nettle, hop, elm, willow, currant), and the northward range expansion.
Polygonia c-album - GBIF
Accepted taxonomy and occurrence records across the Palearctic.