Erebia rossii, the Arctic alpine or Ross's alpine,Ross's Alpine (Erebia rossii) (Curtis, 1835), Butterflies of Canada is a member of the subfamily Satyrinae of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Arctic North America and northern Eurasia.
Description The wingspan is 31–44 mm. The dorsal wings are blackish brown. The forewing in the male has two black eyespots with white pupils sometimes surrounded by one or two orange rings. The male's hindwing has no spots or a partial row of very small spots. The female has two large eyespots and may have smaller spots on both wings. The ventral hindwings have greyish median bands with jagged borders.
Subspecies Listed alphabetically: E. r. erda Sheljuzhko, 1924 (Sajan mountains) E. r. ero Bremer, 1861 (eastern Siberia, Dzhugdzhur Mountains) E. r. gabrieli dos Passos, 1949 (Alaska) E. r. kuskoquima Holland, 1931 (Kuskoquim Valley) E. r. ornata Leussler, 1935 (Manitoba) E. r. subarctica Korshunov, 1996 (mountains of Yakutia and Chukotka)
Life cycle The food plants of the larvae are various grasses, including Carex species.
References