Jutta Arctic (Oeneis jutta [Hübner])
Wing span: 1 7/8 - 2 5/16 inches (4.8 - 6 cm).
Identification: Upperside is gray-brown. Both wings have a broken yellow-orange submarginal band surrounding 2-4 black spots. Underside of hindwing is mottled brown and gray with an obscure median band.
Life history: Males perch on logs and vegetation, and occasionally patrol, to find females. Eggs are scattered near the host plants. In some areas, 2 years are required to complete development; young caterpillars hibernate the first winter, older caterpillars the second.
Flight: One brood from mid-July to early August.
Caterpillar hosts: Sedges, including cottongrass.
Adult food: Flower nectar.
Habitat: Wet tundra, spruce bogs, lodgepole pine forest.
Range: Holarctic. In North American subarctic habitats from Alaska east across Canada and the northern Great Lakes to Maine. Isolated populations south in the Rocky Mountains to Colorado.
Conservation: Not usually required.
The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
Management needs: None reported.
References:
Opler, P. A. and G. O. Krizek. 1984. Butterflies east of the Great Plains. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 294 pages, 54 color plates. Opler, P. A. and V. Malikul. 1992. A field guide to eastern butterflies. Peterson field guide #4. Houghton-Mifflin Co., Boston. 396 pages, 48 color plates. Scott, J. A. 1986. The butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press, Stanford, Calif. 583 pages, 64 color plates. Tilden, J. W. 1986. A field guide to western butterflies. Houghton-Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass. 370 pages, 23 color plates.
Author: Jane M. Struttmann
State and Regional References:
Brower, A.E. 1974. A List of the Lepidoptera of Maine - Part 1: The Macrolepidoptera. Life Sciences and Agricultural Station, Univ. of Maine at Orono. Technical Bulletin No. 66. 136 pp. Layberry, R.A., Hall, P.W. & Lafontaine, D.J., 1998. The Butterflies of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, ON. 280 pp. Opler, P.A. 1998. A field guide to eastern butterflies, revised format. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.