Eastern Comma Butterfly
This is a summer form Eastern Comma. The hindwings are darker than the winter form (above). Both Question Marks and Eastern Commas have a darker summer form.
This Eastern Comma was basking among raindrops after a morning shower. Eastern Commas closely resemble their cousins, the Question Mark butterflies, but Eastern Commas almost always lack the Question Mark's fourth "flattened dot" at the end of the row of three dots. Eastern Commas tend to be slightly smaller 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 12th and December 2nd.
I photographed this Eastern Comma 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.
The photograph at left was taken on November 10th. Cold, sunny weather is good for photographing butterflies because it makes them sluggish. If the weather had been any warmer, this Eastern Comma would have flown away long before I got this close with my iPhone camera.