Southern Comma (Polygonia egea)
2024 photographs highlighted in yellow. Click on any photograph to go to an enlarged picture, or simply scroll down the page.
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| 6619_female_Alpes-Maritimes_8Jun07 | 6638_female_Alpes-Maritimes_8Jun07 | 38005_male_Alpes-Maritimes_27Jun15 | 47458_male_Alpes-Maritimes_18Jul20 |
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Egea has a southern European distribution and is quite rare in France where it only occurs in one small section of the south-eastern corner. By 2007 6619 was the only one I had seen for certain, although it is possible that in 2006 I saw a second brood egea, which is darker than the first brood and therefore more likely to be confused with the Comma (P. c-album); it seemed just too pale for c-album, but at the time I preferred to look rather than snap and without a photograph there is always doubt. Having seen several very light c-album since, the one I saw in 2006 could easily have been c-album. I did see a second egea for certain in 2009 in the Alpes-Maritimes.
I heard of a sighting of one in mid-October 2011(!) in the same general area of the Alpes-Maritimes; there do not appear to be any other records of sightings anywhere else in France. In 2015, I saw egea for only the third time, and in 2017 I added a fourth, albeit in exactly the same location. |
An underside shot is probably essential for definitive identification although the lower forewing margin is almost conclusive on its own, the margin of egea being almost straight whereas the c-album margin is highly curved. The underside is also distinctive, being lighter than c-album, and having the appearance of a piece of wood or bark, perfect camouflage. The unh white mark is more of a "Y" than the "C" of c-album, although I have seen and photographed c-album with a white mark somewhere between the egea Y and the c-album C. The wing edges are rather more jagged in egea than c-album. |
| ref | sex |
observations |
alt. m |
| 6619 | F |
a first brood egea, which I originally thought was a male, but now believe to be a female based on the lightness of the markings. The curvature of the body maybe also suggests female, but this can be deceptive when viewed from this angle. |
330 |
| 6638 | F |
the underside of 6619. |
330 |
| 38005 | M | a male underside, with just a little of the upperside showing. This was patrolling a track and seeing off all interlopers, settling in this characteristic pose on the rock face 2m above the ground and always heading downwards. This is only the third egea I have seen. | 1000 |
| 47458 | M | a male underside, this time nectaring on Lavender in windy conditions. The nature of the underside is that, even when the photograph looks out of focus, it actually isn't. | 1000 |
6619_female_Alpes-Maritimes_8Jun07
6638_female_Alpes-Maritimes_8Jun07
38005_male_Alpes-Maritimes_27Jun15
47458_male_Alpes-Maritimes_18Jul20
