Bug FAQOreas Comma
Polygonia oreas · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae
The oreas comma is a butterfly with a wingspan of about 4 to 5 cm. It lives in coastal redwood and mountain conifer forests from southern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta down to northern California. Caterpillars feed on Ribes plants, while adults sip tree sap and rotting fruit rather than flower nectar.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Polygonia oreas, known as the oreas comma, belongs to the Nymphalidae family of butterflies.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Its wingspan ranges from 42 to 52 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It inhabits coastal redwood forests and mountain conifer forests.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae feed on plants of the Ribes genus. Adults obtain nutrition from tree sap and rotting fruit and rarely from flower nectar.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Adults are on the wing from June through October, depending on location.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Flight period spans June to October, varying with region.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
In North America it is found from southern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta southward to northern California.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It can be confused with the green comma (Polygonia faunus) and the grey comma (Polygonia progne).
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 11 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What do oreas comma caterpillars eat?
The caterpillars feed on species of the plant genus Ribes.
Source: Wikipedia
When can I see adult oreas commas?
Adults fly from June to October, with exact timing depending on where you are.
Source: Wikipedia
What habitats does the oreas comma prefer?
It lives in coastal redwood forests and mountain conifer forests.
Source: Wikipedia
Which butterflies look similar to the oreas comma?
The green comma and the grey comma are the most similar species.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Nymphalidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygonia_oreas
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-25 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-25.