Oeneis polixenes, the Polixenes ArcticPolixenes Arctic, Butterflies of Canada or Norique Alpin,Oeneis polixenes, ITIS 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 33–51 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.Layberry, R.A., P.W. Hall and J.D. Lafontaine. (1998). The Butterflies of Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 280 pp. + color plates.
Subspecies Listed alphabetically: O. p. antonovae Lukhtanov, 1989 – northern Siberia (Gyda Peninsula, Taimyr Peninsula, Wrangel Island) O. p. yukonensis Gibson, 1920 – south western Yukon O. p. beringiana Kurentzov, 1970 – eastern Chukot Region O. p. katahdin (Newcomb, 1901) – Maine (Mt. Katahdin) O. p. luteus Troubridge & Parshall, 1988 – Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alaska O. p. peartiae (Edwards, 1897) – Baffin O. p. polixenes – Labrador, Quebec O. p. subhyalina (Curtis, 1835) – Arctic Canada O. p. woodi Troubridge & Parshall, 1988 – Arctic coast (Yukon, Alaska) O. p. yukonensis Gibson, 1920 – south western Yukon
Similar species Philip's Arctic (O. rosovi) White-veined Arctic (O. bore) Melissa Arctic (O. melissa)
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