Scarce swallowtail Republic have been found to be a good indicator of relatively well preserved xerothermic grassland habitats with forest-steppe vegetation, which have no cutting history. In some years the scarce swallowtail is quite abundant. The scarce swallowtail is getting rarer as the blackthorn bushes are being cleared. The butterfly is now protected by law in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Russia, Ukraine and Poland. It is considered rare and endangered and protected in some provinces of Austria and of indeterminate status throughout Europe. In Armenia the species demonstrates stable population trend and is evaluated as Least Concern. Though referred
Polygonia comma form of comma is frequently confused with the dark form of the question mark ("P. interrogationis"), but the two can readily be distinguished by the shape of the comma mark on the underside. The pale form is easily confused with the satyr comma ("P. satyrus"), which usually occurs north and west of the eastern comma's range. They can be distinguished by the upperside color, which is orange brown in the comma and tawny yellowish brown in "P. satyrus"; by the underside pattern, which tends to be mottled in the comma but appears to be more longitudinally streaked in "P. satyrus";