Butterflies and Moths of North America

collecting and sharing data about Lepidoptera

White-veined Arctic
Oeneis bore (Esper, 1798)


Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Satyrinae
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.
Wing Span: 1 7/16 - 1 7/8 inches (3.7 - 4.8 cm).
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.
NCGR: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
Management Needs: None reported.
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