Bug FAQSatyr Comma
Polygonia satyrus · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae
Also called: satyr angle wing, satyr anglewing
The satyr comma is a North American nymphalid butterfly found mainly in western Canada and across the Nearctic region. Adults show a wide range of wing colors, from light to dark, with many intermediate forms, and can look similar to the eastern comma.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults vary a lot in wing coloration, ranging from light to dark with many shades in between. They are often mistaken for the eastern comma butterfly.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They live in many habitats, including grasslands and Great Plains areas. They are most common in western Canada.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars eat stinging nettles and common hop before turning into adults.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Like other Polygonia species, it undergoes complete metamorphosis. In Colorado, low-elevation populations may have two generations per year, while high-elevation ones have one.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
In Arizona, spring butterflies are usually darker and summer ones lighter. High-elevation populations in southeastern Arizona look distinct from those in California and Colorado.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It occurs throughout the Nearctic region.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It closely resembles the eastern comma butterfly and is often confused with it.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 24 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Colorado, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Nymphalidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygonia_satyrus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.