''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''
(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''
(Leech, 1883) – giant comma
* ''
Polygonia gracilis''
(Grote & Robinson, 1867) – hoary comma
* ''
Polygonia haroldii''
Dewitz, 1877 – spotless anglewing
* ''
Polygonia interposita''
(Staudinger, 1881)
* ''
Polygonia interrogationis''
(Fabricius, 1798) – question mark
* ''
Polygonia oreas''
(Edwards, 1869) – oreas anglewing, oreas comma, sylvan anglewing
* ''
Polygonia progne''
(Cramer, 1775) – grey comma, gray comma
* ''
Polygonia satyrus''
(Edwards, 1869) – satyr anglewing, satyr comma
* ''
Polygonia undina''
(Grum-Grshimailo, 1890)
* ''
Polygonia zephyrus''
(Edwards, 1870) – zephyr comma
Notes
References
Family Nymphalidae.Butterflies of Canada.
Zdenek Fric.
Nymphalini
Butterfly genera
Taxa named by Jacob Hübner
{{Nymphalinae-stub