Question Mark Butterfly

Polygonia interrogationis — the question mark butterfly — is one of the most striking examples of LEAF MIMICRY in North American Lepidoptera and one of about 17 species in genus Polygonia (the 'commas' and 'question marks'). The species is widespread across all of eastern North America from southern Canada south through the eastern US to Mexico. Adults are 5-7 cm wingspan, with bright orange-and-black wings (when open) marked by black spots and dark wing margins. The species' identifying features are visible only when the wings are FOLDED CLOSED. The CLOSED-WING UNDERSIDE is dramatically different from the open-wing upperside: dull dead-leaf brown with prominent leaf-vein patterns and IRREGULAR JAGGED WING MARGINS that closely resemble the rough edge of a partially-eaten oak leaf. The leaf-mimic appearance is one of the most striking examples of CRYPTIC RESEMBLANCE in North American butterflies — at rest with the wings closed, the butterfly is essentially invisible against tree bark or leaf litter. The species' common and scientific names come from one specific feature: a tiny WHITE OR SILVER 'PUNCTUATION-MARK' SHAPE on the underside of each hindwing — a comma followed by a tiny dot, EXACTLY RESEMBLING A QUESTION MARK ('?'). The shape is the diagnostic field-ID feature distinguishing the question mark from the closely-related comma butterflies (Polygonia comma, Polygonia satyrus, etc.) which have only the comma without the dot. The mark is shiny silver-white in fresh adults, fading to cream-yellow in older individuals. Adults exhibit two seasonal forms: a 'summer' form with predominantly black hindwings (when wings are open), and a 'winter' form with predominantly orange hindwings — the seasonal polyphenism is controlled by photoperiod cues during pupation, similar to the buckeye butterfly. Adults overwinter as adults (one of the few NA butterflies to overwinter in adult form, surviving freezing winters in tree-cavity refugia) and live up to 6-9 months — exceptionally long-lived for a butterfly. Larvae feed on hackberry, elm, and nettle. The species is widespread, harmless to humans, and one of the most-photographed brushfoot butterflies in eastern US macro nature photography.