Eastern Comma Butterfly
This is a summer-form Eastern Comma. Their hindwings are darker than the winter form. Both Question Marks and Eastern Commas have a dark summer form.
This Eastern Comma was basking amongst raindrops after a morning shower. Eastern Commas closely resemble their cousins, the Question Mark butterflies, but Eastern Commas have only three dots in a row on the forewing. (Question Marks have a fourth "flattened dot" at the end of this row). Eastern Commas also tend to be slightly smaller than Question Marks on average, but there is some overlap in their size range.
Eastern Commas fly almost year-round. I have seen them every month of the year except January (adults hibernate through the winter). My personal early & late dates are February 7th and December 2nd.
I photographed this Eastern Comma butterfly at Cox Arboretum on February 17, 2017. The weather was unusually warm for February, and this brave butterfly had emerged from hibernation to nectar on Winter Aconite flowers.
This photograph was taken on November 10th. Cold, sunny weather is good for photographing butterflies because it makes them sluggish and easier to approach. If the weather had been any warmer, this Eastern Comma would have flown away long before I got this close with my iPhone camera.
Eastern Comma butterflies get their name from a white comma-shaped marking on the hindwing.