Butterflies and Moths of North America

collecting and sharing data about Lepidoptera

Uhler's Arctic
Oeneis uhleri (Reakirt, 1866)


Family: Nymphalidae
Subfamily: Satyrinae
Identification: Upperside is dull orange-brown with dark veins. Underside of hindwing has a dark basal half, a lighter outer half. Both wings have one-to-many small submarginal spots.
Wing Span: 1 1/2 - 2 3/16 inches (3.8 - 5.6 cm).
Life History: To find females, males perch and occasionally patrol below ridge crests in bunch-grass habitat. Females lay eggs singly on grasses and sedges. Fourth-stage caterpillars hibernate, emerge in the spring to feed again, and pupate just under the soil.
Flight: One brood from early June to early July.
Caterpillar Hosts: Grasses and sedges.
Adult Food: Not reported.
Habitat: Slopes in dry, open bunchgrass habitats; tundra; openings in pine forest.
Range: Northeast Alaska, Yukon and western Northwest territories. Central Alberta south through the Rocky Mountains to northern New Mexico; east through the Canadian prairie provinces to western Minnesota.
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.
Comments: NULL