Oeneis polixenes, the Polixenes Arctic or Norique Alpin, is a species of butterfly in the subfamily Satyrinae. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in northern parts of North America, the Arctic Urals, Kamtchatka, Yakutia, Chukchi Peninsula, and northern Siberia.
Description
The wingspan is 33âÂÂ51 mm. The dorsal wings are dark grey brown, with orange patches near the wing margins. The upperside of the hindwings are a darker grey medially.
Distribution
O. polixenes occurs in northern Canada from coastal Newfoundland to the Yukon.
Subspecies
Listed alphabetically:
- O. p. antonovae <small>Lukhtanov, 1989</small> â northern Siberia (Gyda Peninsula, Taimyr Peninsula, Wrangel Island)
- O. p. yukonensis <small>Gibson, 1920</small> â south western Yukon
- O. p. beringiana <small>Kurentzov, 1970</small> â eastern Chukot Region
- O. p. katahdin <small>(Newcomb, 1901)</small> â Maine (Mt. Katahdin)
- O. p. luteus <small>Troubridge & Parshall, 1988</small> â Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alaska
- O. p. peartiae <small>(Edwards, 1897)</small> â Baffin
- O. p. polixenes â Labrador, Quebec
- O. p. subhyalina <small>(Curtis, 1835)</small> â Arctic Canada
- O. p. woodi <small>Troubridge & Parshall, 1988</small> â Arctic coast (Yukon, Alaska)
- O. p. yukonensis <small>Gibson, 1920</small> â south western Yukon
Similar species
References