| Commas are part of an association of butterflies commonly known as "anglewings," which have sharply angled wings. When folded at rest, the undersides resemble dead leaves or pieces of bark. This group includes anglewings, tortoiseshells, commas, question marks, leafwings, snouts and daggerwings. Commas have always been, to me, the "friendliest" of the butterflies. They will frequently buzz you, and often alight on your clothing if you are standing in the sun in their favorite forest clearing. Commas seem quite social, and will dance with each other, rapidly twisting and turning about each other, spiraling up into and above the forest canopy, and out of sight - but will return to the current sunny perch in a matter of a minute or so.
One fine spring day, some commas were messing with
us, and one of them insisted on landing on our hands, and poking us with
their proboscises - it feels like being gently stuck with a tiny wire!
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