''Oeneis melissa'', the Melissa Arctic, is a species of butterfly in the family

Nymphalidae The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a red ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 42–51 mm. The larvae feed on various sedges, including ''

Carex bigelowii ''Carex bigelowii'' is a species of sedge known by the common names Bigelow's sedge, Gwanmo sedge, and stiff sedge. It has an Arctic–alpine distribution in Eurasia and North America, and grows up to tall in a variety of habitats. Distribution ...

'' and ''

Carex rupestris ''Carex rupestris'', called the curly sedge and rock sedge (names it shares with other members of its genus), is a species of flowering plant in the family Cyperaceae, native to temperate and subarctic North America, Greenland, Iceland, Europe, ...

''.

Subspecies

*''Oeneis melissa melissa'' (Newfoundland, Labrador) *''Oeneis melissa also'' (Boisduval,

833 __NOTOC__ Year 833 ( DCCCXXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Byzantine-Arab War: Emperor Theophilos signs an armistice for p ...

(Polar Urals, Arctic Asia, Taymur, Chukot Peninsula, Kamchatka, Wrangel Island) *''Oeneis melissa orientalis'' Kurentzov, 1970 (eastern Yakutia, Magadan) *''Oeneis melissa daizetsuzana'' Matsumura, 1926 (Japan) *''Oeneis melissa semidea'' (Say, 1828) (New Hampshire) *''Oeneis melissa semplei'' Holland, 1931 (Quebec, inner Labrador, Hudson Bay) *''Oeneis melissa assimilis'' Butler, 1868 (Northwest Territories) *''Oeneis melissa gibsoni'' Holland, 1931 (Alaska, Yukon, northern British Columbia) *''Oeneis melissa beanii'' Elwes, 1893 (Alberta, British Columbia, Washington, Montana, Wyoming) *''Oeneis melissa lucilla'' Barnes & McDunnough, 1918 *''Oeneis melissa karae'' Kusnezov, 1925 (polar tundra of northern Siberia)

References

Butterflies described in 1775 Oeneis Insects of the Arctic Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius {{Satyrini-stub