Commas and Mourning Cloaks

[waltp...@gmail.com]

Just looked on Inaturalist (3/12/2026 11:30pm) , so far in Maryland,

21 Eastern Comma observations in 2026 (though a couple of the observations are really blurry pics)

and 

27 Mourning Cloaks (again in 2026)

No Questionmarks yet in Maryland for 2026?

(there is 1 observation in Inat, but I think it is an Eastern Comma)

Virginia has one Questionmark observation so far in 2026.

So I guess the Questionmark numbers are low (which is what I observed last year)

and/or they come out later.

No Gray Commas yet, there were only 3 observations in Maryland all of 2025,

so they are much less common.

Walter Gould

[Rick Borchelt]

My experience is that Question Marks are a week-10 days later peaking than Eastern Commas, and also tend to bask in sun pools less often so are not as readily observed.  I'll take a look at the iNat records when I get a chance; my suspicion is that the Eastern Comma sightings are mostly Eastern Shore and Piedmont (where comma predominates, and where lepidopterists warm up and get into the field first!) while Questions Marks are more common westward and in cooler/less observed northern and western counties. Would be worth doing a field review of just which hosts are most in use by these species in MD.

Gray Commas for me have always been scarce as overwintering adults; my peaks have been as fresh adults in May/June.  This may track with availability of larval food resources (exclusively Appalachian Gooseberry), which leafs out later than elm and emerging nettle (principal food for Eastern Commas and Question Marks). 

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Rick Borchelt
College Park, MD
preferred personal email:  rborchelt |AT| gmail |DOT| com

http://leplog.wordpress.com

[Nathaniel Schwartz]

My brother and I were hiking at Morgan Run NEA on Tuesday, March 10th, and we found dozens of Eastern Commas (and only 1 Mourning Cloak) on sugar maples in the sun, where Sapsuckers had drilled holes and the sap was running. They were joined by scads of flies and a handful of bee flies, wasps, and so forth. I estimate we saw 20 to 30  Eastern Commas   on just 3 different trees, and my guess is there are dozens of similar trees on that same ridge. This was surprising to me, but probably not to folks in this group. I did not see any that appeared to be Question Marks.

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[Richard Orr]

Walter,

I had a single sighting of a Question Mark last Tuesday (10th) along with a several Commas and two Mourning Cloaks at Patuxent Research Refuge at Knowles Marsh 1 (Central Tract).  I also had a Common Green Darner.

 Richard Orr

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 13, 2026, at 6:43 AM, Nathaniel Schwartz <gna...@gmail.com> wrote:



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