Polygonia interrogationis
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Polygonia interrogationis, commonly called the question mark butterfly, is a North American nymphalid butterfly. It lives in wooded areas, city parks, generally in areas with a combination of trees and open space. The color and textured appearance of the underside of its wings combine to provide camouflage that resembles a dead leaf. The adult butterfly has a wingspan of 4.5–7.6 cm (1.8–3.0 in). Its flight period is from May to September. "The silver mark on the underside of the hindwing is broken into two parts, a curved line and a dot, creating a ?-shaped mark that gives the species its common name."
Like other species in the order of Lepidoptera, the question mark is a holometabolous insect that undergoes four life stages. These four life stages are embryo (egg), larva (in this case, caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and imago (or adult/butterfly).
After the male has found the female perching on a tree or in the grass, courting ensues, after which the mating of the two occurs. Females lay eggs singly or stacked under leaves of plants that are usually not the hosts. The young hatchlings must then find their food source to survive.
Larvae of the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 6 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Question Mark sighting in Dallas on a given day, based on 602 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 19th most-seen of the 1412 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–July and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Question Mark in Dallas on a given day, against about 10% in August–September and November–March, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Question Mark sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 16 cities where we can rate Question Mark sightings, Dallas ranks 2nd at about 20%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Austin (United States, about 20%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Question Mark that you can see in Dallas (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Monarch (about 30%), Gulf Fritillary (about 30%) and Common Buckeye (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Question Mark is recorded against all the insects logged in Dallas (602 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
