Comma/Camóg (Polygonia c-album)
Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide 2nd Edition with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com
The Comma is a generalist, found in: tall-herb and grassy forest clearings, crops, field margins, orchards, urban parks and ornamental gardens. The first confirmed report of the Comma in the Republic of Ireland was in 2000 in Co. Wexford. It is now consistently recorded each year throughout the south and east, and overwinters. In Spring, overwintering adults emerge in wooded habitats and spend time basking, favourite surfaces being tree trunks, wood piles, dead bracken and fence posts. Males establish territories on sunny rides and woodland margins, perching waiting for females to enter the territory and conducting short flights to and from their original perch. During late summer and early autumn, the 2nd generation adults range widely over sites with nectar sources, but move to woodland to hibernate.
The caterpillars primarily feed on Common Nettle (Urtica dioica), but in Britain it has also been observed on: Currants (Ribes spp.), Elms (Ulmus spp.), Hop (Humulus lupulus) and Willows (Salix spp.).
The adult nectar sources include: Bramble (Rubus fruticosus), Buddleia (Buddleji davidii), Ivy (Hedera helix), Knapweeds (Centaurea spp.), Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) and Thistles (Cirsium spp. and Carduus spp.). (National Biodiversity Data Centre)
This is the first Comma butterfly of 2024 for me. Always great to see. In Marlay Park, Dublin.
Comma/Camóg (Polygonia c-album)
Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide 2nd Edition with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com
The Comma is a generalist, found in: tall-herb and grassy forest clearings, crops, field margins, orchards, urban parks and ornamental gardens. The first confirmed report of the Comma in the Republic of Ireland was in 2000 in Co. Wexford. It is now consistently recorded each year throughout the south and east, and overwinters. In Spring, overwintering adults emerge in wooded habitats and spend time basking, favourite surfaces being tree trunks, wood piles, dead bracken and fence posts. Males establish territories on sunny rides and woodland margins, perching waiting for females to enter the territory and conducting short flights to and from their original perch. During late summer and early autumn, the 2nd generation adults range widely over sites with nectar sources, but move to woodland to hibernate.
The caterpillars primarily feed on Common Nettle (Urtica dioica), but in Britain it has also been observed on: Currants (Ribes spp.), Elms (Ulmus spp.), Hop (Humulus lupulus) and Willows (Salix spp.).
The adult nectar sources include: Bramble (Rubus fruticosus), Buddleia (Buddleji davidii), Ivy (Hedera helix), Knapweeds (Centaurea spp.), Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) and Thistles (Cirsium spp. and Carduus spp.). (National Biodiversity Data Centre)
This is the first Comma butterfly of 2024 for me. Always great to see. In Marlay Park, Dublin.