Polygonia (from Greek πολύς - polys, "many"[1] and γωνία - gōnia, "angle"[2]) 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 angular notches on the outer edges of their forewings, hence the other common name anglewing butterflies. The related genus Nymphalis also includes some anglewing species; Polygonia is sometimes classified as a subgenus of Nymphalis.[3]

Polygonia
Polygonia c-album
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Tribe: Nymphalini
Genus: Polygonia
Hübner, 1819
Species

See text

P. c-album showing angular wings and typical comma marking

Many members of Polygonia hibernate as adults.[4] Species include:[5][6]

Notes

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  1. ^ πολύς, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  2. ^ γωνία, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  3. ^ "Nymphalis Kluk, 1780" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  4. ^ Scott, J. A. (1999). Hibernal diapause of North American Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea. Archived 2018-10-08 at the Wayback Machine Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 18(3):171-200.
  5. ^ Polygonia, Tree of Life
  6. ^ 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.

References

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