White-veined Arctic (Oeneis bore Geyer)
Wing span: 1 7/16 - 1 7/8 inches (3.7 - 4.8 cm).
Identification: Wings are translucent, veins are usually white. Upperside is gray-brown with no eyespots. Underside is light brown; hindwing has a dark median band outlined in white.
Life history: To find females, males perch and patrol all day on grassy hillsides or swales. Females lay eggs on dead grass or sedge blades. Two years are required to complete development; the first winter is passed by first-stage caterpillars, the second winter by mature caterpillars.
Flight: One brood in late July.
Caterpillar hosts: Grasses or sedges.
Adult food: Occasionally flower nectar.
Habitat: Tundra, grassy alpine slopes, and subarctic bogs.
Range: Holarctic. In North America, high arctic tundra from Alaska east to Labrador. Isolated populations in the alpine Rocky Mountains south to southwest Colorado. Isolated population on Mt. Albert, Quebec.
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 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:
Ferris, C.D. and F.M. Brown. 1980. Butterflies of the Rocky Mountain States. University of Oklahoma Press. Norman. Opler, Paul A. 1999. Peterson Field Guide to Western Butterflies, revised edition. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass. Stanford, R.E. and P.A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western USA Butterflies. Privately published, Denver, Colo. Tilden, J.W. and A.C. Smith. 1986. A Field Guide to Western Butterflies. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass.