Subject: Is it a leaf or a rectangle with legs?
Geographic location of the bug: Northwestern PA
Date: 08/08/2018
Time: 11:47 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: I spotted this on one of our Oak trees a couple of years ago and was never able to identify it. Having come across your site, I hope you can achieve what I haven’t.
How you want your letter signed: Valerie
Hi Valerie,
Alas, your sharpest image is cropped so tightly that it has cut off the “stem” of the leaf which adds to the camouflage effect of this Questionmark butterfly, so we have also posted a blurrier image that includes the “stem.” The Questionmark gets its name because of the silvery marking on the hind wings that resembles a grammatical interrogation symbol. We suspect your individual is a male, because according to Butterflies and Moths of North America: “Males find females by perching on leaves or tree trunks in the afternoon, flying to chase other insects and even birds.”
