''Oeneis alpina'', the sentinel Arctic or Eskimo Arctic, is a species of butterfly in the subfamily Satyrinae. It occurs in Siberia and the northern parts of North America.

Description

The wing span of ''O. alpina'' is about forty millimetres. The wings are orangish-brown, with the base two thirds a much darker shade. The forewing has one to three eyespots with white centres and the hindwing has two. The underside of the wings also have these eyespots, and the underside of the hindwing is mottled with brown and grey streaks. The female is a little larger than the male with the basal region of the wing a paler shade. This species resembles the brown Arctic (''

Oeneis chryxus ''Oeneis chryxus'', the chryxus Arctic or brown Arctic, is a butterfly of subfamily Satyrinae found in the far northwest regions of Canada and the United States. The brown Arctic has highly variable colorings, which tend toward light yellow to o ...

'') but the latter has a single eyespot on its hindwing.

Distribution

''Oeneis alpina'' occurs in north east

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

, in the Chukot and Magadan regions, and the tundra regions of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

and the Northwest Territories. It is generally uncommon but occasionally abundant locally.

Reproduction

There is a single brood per year in June and July. The males congregate on hilltops,

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ...

s and rocky places in

tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless mou ...

regions and the females fly to join them. After mating, the females return to wet boggy land where they deposit their eggs on or near their host plants which are believed to be grasses, ('' Poa'' species). Little is known of the development of the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

e, but it is assumed that they overwinter twice before maturing as the butterflies are locally abundant only in alternate years.Alaska Department of Food and Game
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Subspecies

*''Oeneis alpina alpina'' (Magadan, Chukot Peninsula) *''Oeneis alpina execubitor'' Troubridge, Philip, Scott & Shepard, 1982 (northern Yukon, Northwest Territories, northern Alaska)

Similar species

Chryxus Arctic (''O. chryxus'')

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3349464 Oeneis Insects of the Arctic