Oreas Comma
Polygonia oreas (W.H. Edwards, 1869)

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Diagnosis: The Oreas Comma is similar to the Green Comma (P. faunus) above but looks like a dark brown Grey Comma (P. progne) below. The black spots on the forewing above (in ssp. silenus) are larger than in any other anglewing and some spots may be fused together into irregular blotches. The wing margins are scalloped and lobed, much as in the Green Comma, and this is accentuated by white patches along the fringe of the wings that make the lobes look even deeper. The pale spots near the margin of the hindwing are larger than in the Grey Comma, being larger than the space between the spots. The underside is similar to the Grey Comma's but the colour is a dark brown. Wingspan: 45 to 52 mm.

Subspecies: Subspecies silenus occurs along the west coast into southwestern British Columbia with a single record from Yukon; specimens from the remainder of British Columbia and southwestern Alberta are paler and are intermediate in colour between subspecies silenus and the nominate subspecies oreas, which occurs from California to the northern Rocky Mountains in the U.S.

Range: This species occurs in the mountains from northern California to southern British Columbia and extreme southwestern Alberta. A specimen from the Klotassin River in western Yukon is far north of the known range of the species and additional material is needed to confirm its occurrence this far north.

Similar Species: The Oreas Comma is most likely to be confused with the western subspecies of the Hoary Comma (P. gracilis zephyrus) and the Grey Comma (P. progne). It differs from both species in the more lobed wing fringes with white patches along the margin and the large black blotches on the upperside. The underside of the hindwing is dark brown in the Oreas Comma, whereas it is silvery grey in the Hoary Comma and paler brown with numerous silvery striae in the Grey Comma. [compare images]

Early Stages: The larva is similar to that of the Grey Comma and like that species it feeds on gooseberry (Ribes spp.).

Abundance: The Oreas Comma is uncommon in Canada.

Flight Season: It is usually reported from mid-May to late July from overwintered specimens.

Habits: This butterfly is most commonly found in coniferous forests and forest clearings where gooseberry grows.

Remarks: This species is closely related to the Grey Comma and replaces it from southwestern Alberta westward; the Grey Comma occurs in Alberta west to the Rocky Mountain foothills, while the Oreas Comma occurs from the Crowsnest Pass area westward. This pattern of replacement led Scott (1986) to treat it as a subspecies of the Grey Comma, but we retain it as a species since there is no evidence of intergradation between the species where their ranges are in close proximity in Alberta.

© 2002. This material is reproduced with permission from The Butterflies of Canada by Ross A. Layberry, Peter W. Hall, and J. Donald Lafontaine. University of Toronto Press; 1998. Specimen photos courtesy of John T. Fowler.

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