Nature photographers need to know their punctuation marks well. Last week I spotted an Eastern Comma butterfly (Polygonia comma) and this week on Monday I spotted its “cousin,” a Question Mark butterfly (Polygonia interrogationis) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
I have always wondered what was going through the mind of the person that chose the official name of a given species. What caused them to focus on a particular characteristic in choosing the name? Was the person who named these butterflies a grammarian?
In the case of the Question Mark butterfly, the best identifying mark is visible only when the wings are closed. The Question Mark has white markings which more or less resemble a question mark (?) on the underside of its hindwings. (Check out the natureblog.org posting “A Question Mark, a Comma, and a Question of Origin,” to see examples of these markings.)
The good news is that there is also a way to identify a Question Mark when its wings are open—the Question Mark has four black spots in a line on each of its upper wings with the outermost spot somewhat elongated, as you can see in the first photo below.
For the sake of comparison, I am reprising a photo from last week of an Eastern Comma butterfly. I flipped it 180 degrees so it is easier to spot the differences. If you look at the butterfly in the second photo, you can see that there are only three spots on each of the upper wings, which makes it a Comma, rather than a Question Mark. (One sharp viewer last week suggested that they should have more appropriately named the butterfly with the three spots the “Ellipsis Butterfly” rather than the Eastern Comma Butterfly.) In case you are curious about the reasons for the “comma,” the butterfly has markings that look sort of like a comma (,) on the underside of its hindwings that are visible when the wings are closed.
Question Mark butterfly
Eastern Comma butterfly
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Question marks, I understand, Mike. I’m always getting commas wrong – in sentences. In the woods I’d go with. “I’ll take a picture of it and ask Mike.” 🙂
How are you with em dashes, Dan? They are one of my favorites. As for commas, I am in favor of a liberal use of them. In this case, my use of the term “liberal” is not necessarily reflective of my political views. It reminds me of the change in federal government terminology that took place when there was a change of administrations. It used to be that “liberal leave” was permitted when schools were closed for snow, but the government was still open. The term “liberal leave,” was stricken from permitted terms and replaced with “unscheduled leave.” The administration could not countenance anything being “liberal.”
That’s funny, Mike. I do like em dashes and a liberal or perhaps I should say a generous use of commas. Then again, the government might not like ‘generous’ either. I prefer to put commas where I would pause if I were telling the story. Apparently, there are rules for using them – who knew?
Nice Mike! Nice to show the difference in comparing these similar butterflies!
Thanks, Reed. I am always in favor of sharing tips and information with other folks. One of the coolest things about photography is that I can be super geeky about subjects and include Latin names, or be really technical and include camera settings, or be completely artsy. There is room for all of that and more.
My commas have an Oxford education. But here’s what I really want to know: is there an Exclamation Point Butterfly?
Not yet! 🙂
I think I’d probably better stop thinking about this or I might come up with some silly conjecture about a flying colon.
🙂
Great post and info on these butterflies, Mike. I’m not familiar with any of the flying punctuation insects but will keep an eye out.
I will Isley spot the butterfly, not have a camera ready and forget the name. But ah! The beauty! 🙂
I practice what I call the law of the Old West–shoot first and ask questions later. If I can capture a photo, there is a decent chance I will eventually be able to identify the subject, asking for help when necessary. There is no use for me to worry about identifying the creature when I am out in the field.
Likely not Isley