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Question Mark

Polygonia interrogationis

Photo by Dan Doucette
Published on Project Noah
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43.0904, -79.0861

Field Notes

Description:

The adult butterfly has a wingspan of 4.5–7.6 cm (1.8–3.0 in). The silver mark on the underside of the hindwing is broken into two parts, a curved line and a dot, creating a ?-shaped mark that gives the species its common name.

Habitat:

This species has been found in southern Canada and all of the eastern United States except peninsular Florida, west to the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, south to southern Arizona and Mexico

Notes:

I spotted this on a tree in my backyard. It's the first time I've seen this butterfly around. I have cropped and rotated my first image for a better view. I was only able to get a couple shots before it disappeared.

Reference Links:

Polygonia interrogationis

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (2)
Dan Doucette
Thanks Mamasita. This name makes sense for this species but I'll never understand the common names of so many other butterflies.
JungleLoveMamasita
I spotted this picture while cruising through your posts, this one caught my eye because of its name, "question mark", "what an odd name for a butterfly", I thought, so I stopped to check it out to see if this was a made-up name or something and to my surprise it was not. So, yes, its official, it 'is' an odd name for a butterfly.... and its very pretty.

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PublishedSeptember 16, 2011

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