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The Question Mark is a North American butterfly in the family Nymphalid. It ranges from southern Canada and all of the eastern United States except the Florida peninsular, west to the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, and south to southern Arizona and Mexico. They typically live in wooded areas, or generally any area that features a combination of trees and open spaces.
The adult butterfly has a wing span of 2.5 - 3 inches (6.4 - 7.5 cm), which is larger than it close cousin the Eastern Comma at 2 - 2.5 inches (5 - 6.4 cm). Its flight season is from May - September.
As seen above a silver - white mark on the underside of the hindwing is broken into two parts, a curved line and a dot, creating a question (?) shaped mark that gives this species its common name.
Forewing is typically hooked; upperside is red-orange with black spots. Upperside hindwing of summer form is mostly black with a short tail; winter form is mostly orange with a longer, violet-tipped tail. Underside of both wings is light brown in color.
This cryptic colored and uniquely shaped creature is one of the few butterflies that overwinter as adults. Hiding in cracks and crevices of wood, they remain inactive throughout the cold months. Their colors help keep them hidden and safe. This is also a butterfly that doesn’t prefer nectar, but will drink it occasionally. It's preferred food is tree sap, overripe fruit, and animal scat. The scat supplies proteins that the butterfly doesn't get from nectar. This butterfly can tolerate cooler temperatures than most other butterflies and as a result is usually one of the first to appear in Spring.
ISO400, aperture f/8, exposure .006 seconds (1/180) focal length 300mm
A great sign appeared in the sky above the nuclear generating facility near Salem, N.J. Taken from the other side of the Delaware River estuary at Augustine Beach just south of Port Penn, Delaware. Opinions expressed by the steam vent are strictly its own.
-Added to the Cream of the Crop pool as most favorited.
Another view of this scene: flickr.com/photos/48878663@N00/266533252/
This is a "deep" exposure of the constellations of Cassiopeia the Queen and Cepheus the King, to pick up the many reddish emission nebulas in the area, some relatively bright, but others very faint and extensive throughout this region of the northern Milky Way. Also in the frame are many open star clusters. The distinctive 5 stars of the W of Cassiopeia are at left.
Included are:
- The Heart and Soul Nebulas, at left, consisting of IC 1848 at left (the Soul) and IC 1805 at right (the Heart).
- Below them is the bright Double Cluster, NGC 869 and NGC 884, in Perseus.
- Above the middle star of the W, Gamma Cassiopeiae, are the wispy reflection nebulas, IC 59 and IC 63, known as the Ghost of Cassiopeia. They are the tip of a larger mass of faint emission nebulas.
- At lower left beside the yellow star Schedir is the bright Pacman Nebula, NGC 281.
- At lower left, beside the 5th star of the W, Caph, is the cluster NGC 7789, aka Caroline's Rose.
- At top centre is the complex of nebulosity known as the Question Mark, consisting of NGC 7822 (at top), Cederblad 214 (middle) and Sharpless 2-170 as the lower dot of the question mark.
- At centre is the cluster Messier 52 amid a mass of faint nebulosity.
- At right is the large circular nebula IC 1396 in Cepheus, popularly called the Elephant Trunk
- The large dark nebula Le Gentil 3 is at far right
- Below it is the Dark Cigar Nebula B168 flanked by the star clusters NGC 7209 and M39.
The field is also rich in dark lanes of dust and faint reflection nebulas.
Technical:
This is a blend of filtered and unfiltered exposures:
- A stack of 72 x 1-minute exposures through an Astronomik dual narrowband UHC clip-in filter, at ISO 1600.
- A stack of 21 x 1-minute exposures through a mild light pollution filter, a 95mm NISI Night, at ISO 800.
- A single exposure through a 95mm Tiffen Black Mist filter contributed some of the star glows on the bright stars.
- All at f/2 with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 35mm, on the red-sensitive Canon Ra, and on the MSM Nomad tracker.
I eliminated the stars from the UHC set so it contributes just the nebulosity (or much of it).
Taken from the very dark skies of the Cypress Hills, Alberta, at the Southern Alberta Star Party, September 23, 2025.
It is a three mile round trip walk between Montrose and Belmont, and yesterday the only butterflies were Cabbage Whites and a Sulpher. Today one stretch had a couple of these guys. Nice and fresh looking they were. Told apart from Commas by the longer tails since we cannot see the underwing.
The name of the butterfly is "Question Mark" The other one has been identified as a "Coma" butterfly LOL
Good morning everyone and I hope you had a nice weekend. Featured for Butterfly Monday is the Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis). Also sometimes known as an Angelwing butterfly along with its close cousin the Eastern Comma. The easiest way to differentiate between the two is the unique marking on the underside of the hind wing, but another way is the extra wing spot, or bar, on the top side of the forewing, which the Question Mark has, but the Eastern Comma lacks.
Like the Eastern Comma, the Question Mark has two seasonal forms, summer and fall/winter. This is called seasonal dimorphism. The above is a summer form butterfly...it has much darker coloring on the hindwings. The summer form also has generally less developed "swallowtails" than the fall/winter form. I took the liberty to post a pic in the comment section of a fall/winter Question Mark photographed in 2010 so you can see the difference between the two forms.
As for these photos, the above two were taken at the reclaimed strip mine of the butterfly feeding on tree sap. Unfortunately the butterfly isn't the best of specimens, but with butterflies being scarce as they are this year I can't afford to be choosey.
As a reminder, don't forget to click on "view previous comments" if you don't see the individual photos in the comment section. Even better, scroll to them by clicking on the arrow thingy to the right of the above pic. And if you want to view any picture in the comment section large all you have to do is click on it where you'll also find the full text describing this butterfly.
Thank you for stopping by...and I hope you have a truly great day and week.
Lacey
Camera: Canon 1100D astro modified
Scope: Askar FMA180Pro
Mount: SW AZ-GTi EQ mode
Filter RGB: Optolong UHC
Expo RGB: 112 x 300s (9h+) + Dark, Flat, Bias
Controlled by AsiAir Mini
Processed in PixInsight and Photoshop LR
2023.08.15 - 2023.08.27, Varpalota, Hungary
A Question Mark butterfly, Polygonia interrogationis, in the Leslie Street garden allotments, Toronto.
Riddler: What's black and blue and going forwards will tend to be wet all over?
Doctor: I don't have the foggiest notion!