''Polygonia'' (from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

πολύς - ''polys'', "many" and γωνία - ''gōnia'', "angle") is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of butterflies with a conspicuous white mark on the underside of each hindwing, hence the common name comma. They also have conspicuous angular notches on the outer edges of their forewings, hence the other common name anglewing butterflies. The related genus ''

Nymphalis ''Nymphalis'', commonly known as the tortoiseshells or anglewing butterflies, is a genus of brush-footed butterflies. The genera '' Aglais'', ''Inachis'', ''Polygonia'' and '' Kaniska'', were sometimes included as subgenera of ''Nymphalis''

'' also includes some anglewing species; ''Polygonia'' is sometimes classified as a subgenus of ''Nymphalis''. Many members of ''Polygonia''

hibernate Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most ...

as adults. Species include:Wahlberg, N. et al. (2009)
Timing major conflict between mitochondrial and nuclear genes in species relationships of ''Polygonia'' butterflies (Nymphalidae: Nymphalini).
''BMC Evolutionary Biology'' 9:92. * ''

Polygonia c-album ''Polygonia c-album'', 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 ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – comma * '' Polygonia c-aureum'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – Asian comma * ''

Polygonia comma ''Polygonia comma'', the eastern comma, is a North American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae, subfamily Nymphalinae. Description This butterfly is seasonally variable. The upperside of the summer form's hindwings are all black, whereas the ...

'' (Harris, 1842) – eastern comma * '' Polygonia egea'' (Cramer, 1775) – southern comma * '' Polygonia faunus'' (Edwards, 1862) – Faunus anglewing, Faunus comma, green comma * ''

Polygonia g-argenteum ''Polygonia'' (from Greek πολύς - ''polys'', "many" and γωνία - ''gōnia'', "angle") is a genus of butterflies with a conspicuous white mark on the underside of each hindwing, hence the common name comma. They also have conspicuous an ...

'' Doubleday & Hewitson, 1846 – Mexican anglewing * ''

Polygonia gigantea ''Polygonia gigantea'', the giant comma, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in western and central China. The wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other w ...

'' (Leech, 1883) – giant comma * ''

Polygonia gracilis 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 Oce ...

'' (Grote & Robinson, 1867) – hoary comma * ''

Polygonia haroldii ''Polygonia'' (from Greek πολύς - ''polys'', "many" and γωνία - ''gōnia'', "angle") is a genus of butterflies with a conspicuous white mark on the underside of each hindwing, hence the common name comma. They also have conspicuous an ...

'' Dewitz, 1877 – spotless anglewing * ''

Polygonia interposita ''Polygonia interposita'' is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found from Ghissar to the Altai Mountains, north-western China, the Himalayas and Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of M ...

'' (Staudinger, 1881) * ''

Polygonia interrogationis ''Polygonia interrogationis'', commonly called the question mark butterfly, is a North American nymphalid butterfly. It lives in wooded areas, city parks, generally in areas with a combination of trees and open space. The color and textured app ...

'' (Fabricius, 1798) – question mark * ''

Polygonia oreas ''Polygonia oreas'', the oreas comma, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in North America in the mountains from southern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta to northern California. The wingspan is 42–52 mm. The b ...

'' (Edwards, 1869) – oreas anglewing, oreas comma, sylvan anglewing * ''

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

'' (Cramer, 1775) – grey comma, gray comma * ''

Polygonia satyrus ''Polygonia satyrus'', the satyr comma, is a North American butterfly of the nymphalid family. It is primarily found in western Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlan ...

'' (Edwards, 1869) – satyr anglewing, satyr comma * ''

Polygonia undina ''Polygonia undina'' is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae first described by Grigory Grum-Grshimailo in 1890. It is found from Ghissar-Darvaz to the Pamirs-Alai and Tian-Shan in north-western China and the Himalayas The Himalayas, o ...

'' (Grum-Grshimailo, 1890) * ''

Polygonia zephyrus ''Polygonia'' (from Greek πολύς - ''polys'', "many" and γωνία - ''gōnia'', "angle") is a genus of butterflies with a conspicuous white mark on the underside of each hindwing, hence the common name comma. They also have conspicuous an ...

'' (Edwards, 1870) – zephyr comma

Notes

References

Family Nymphalidae.
Butterflies of Canada.

Zdenek Fric. Nymphalini Butterfly genera Taxa named by Jacob Hübner {{Nymphalinae-stub