Fluturat e Shqipërisë
Butterflies of Albania

Sylvain Cuvelier =
Anila Paparisto =

Last update: 05.viii.2023

Polygonia c-album / Comma Butterfly
C-bardha
Nymphalidae - Nymphalinae

Polygonia c-album (Linnaeus, 1758). TL: Sweden.

1a. Polygonia c-album, distribution map. Historical data ; Additional data from the 2018 update ; New observations since the 2018 update.
1b. Polygonia c-album underside. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1c. Polygonia c-album underside. Mali i Thatë, Albania (© Lulëzim Shuka)
1d. Polygonia c-album upperside. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1e. Polygonia c-album underside, spring form. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)
1f. Polygonia c-album underside, summer form. Belgium (© Sylvain Cuvelier)

Description
♂♂
Medium size butterfly. Fw: 22-24 mm.
Ups: orange-brown gc, well marked and numerous dark markings.
Uns: no minute dark striae in postdiscal areas, seasonal dimorphism, pale markings and marbling in spring (forma hutchinsoni), dark markings with marked green and dark brown in summer.
Unh: C mark at cell-end.
♀♀
Slightly larger.

Similar species

Polygonia egea Size:similar. Upf: few and small dark markings. Uph: few and small dark markings. Unf: minute dark striae in postdiscal areas. Unf : pale basal gc (1st generation) Unh: minute dark striae in postdiscal areas. Unh: basal gc (1st generation pale) Unh: y mark at cell-end. Second generation (forma j-album) Ups: more fulvous gc, darker markings. Uns: darker grey-brown markings.

Life cycle
Adults: early spring after overwintering, two to three generations (depending on altitude) from May to October.
Egg: 4-7 days.
Caterpillar: 15-27 days.
Pupa: 9-17 days.

Habitat
Polygonia c-album inhabits a large variety of habitats from gardens, parks to forests from lowland up to 2000 m a.s.l.
Spatial requirement moderate, population density moderate.

Foodplants
Caterpillars feed mainly on Humus lupulus, Urtica dioica, Ulmus sp., Salix caprea, S. cinerea and Ribes sp., also mentioned are Corylus avellana, Prunus spinosa, Rubus idaeus and other Urtica sp.
Butterflies feed on a variety of flowers, rotten fruit and sap of wounded trees.

Distribution
Albania: widespread in the mountains.
Balkan: AL - BG - BIH - GR - HR - NMK - MNE - RKS - RO - SLO - SRB
Europe: IB - IT - ALP - BAL - NWE - UK - SCA - EEU
Asia Minor, Near East, Transcaucasia, Caucasus and further east.

Conservation status
Polygonia c-album is not endangered.
Albanian Red List: NE.
IUCN Red List, category at the Mediterranean level: LC.

Useful links
Bink 2015
Pyrgus.de
Lepiforum
Euroleps

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