Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma)
Driftless Area South Central Wisconsin, Dane County USA
2023-08-07 2A7A9594aaa Driftless Area South Central Wisconsin
Regarded as common the modern world is taking an eliminating toll of the comma.
It's caterpillars eat elm and willows, two trees that are increasingly uncommon in south central Wisconsin. Both trees are logged by well-meaning forest restoration specialist eager to purifying an area to the Oak Savannah that once covered the area. Worse still, elm trees suffer from dutch elm disease which has almost completely wiped the tree out -both by having the disease or a healthy tree being cut down to stop the spread of the tree. Willow trees are also cut down to achieve the appearance of an Oak Savannah. Swamp willow is also burned in an effort to purifying wet meadows of undesirable species. Much of the Oak Savanah "make nature great again" push is intended to bring back red headed wood peckers. It is a beautiful species. But it has been my observation that forest does not have to be perfectly logged to have them use the area, however, group think, ego, money, etc. or in general simply human imperfection results in turning a deaf ear to the needs of animals lower in the food chain - insects.
Like all insects the now frequent extreme drought and extreme heat events coupled with fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides act to decimate comma's populations. And you achieve complete extinction by adding together all the areas where the species has been eradicated.
...and so goes Polygonia comma.
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