Oeneis melissa, the Melissa Arctic, is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.

Oeneis melissa
As Hipparchia semidea by Titian Peale
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Oeneis
Species:
O. melissa
Binomial name
Oeneis melissa
(Fabricius, 1775)[1]
Synonyms
  • Papilio melissa Fabricius, 1775
  • Oeneis beanii Elwes, 1893
  • Oeneis arctica Gibson, 1920
  • Oeneis simulans Gibson, 1920
  • Hipparchia semidea Say, 1828
  • Oeneis eritiosa Harris
  • Oeneis aeno Boisduval
  • Oeneis nigra (Edwards, 1894)
  • Oeneis daisetsuzana Matsumura, 1926

The wingspan is 42–51 mm.

The larvae feed on various sedges, including Carex bigelowii and Carex rupestris.

Oeneis melissa daizetsuzana, Japan

Subspecies

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  • Oeneis melissa melissa (Newfoundland, Labrador)
  • Oeneis melissa also (Boisduval, [1833]) (Polar Urals, Arctic Asia, Taymur, Chukot Peninsula, Kamchatka, Wrangel Island)
  • Oeneis melissa orientalis Kurentzov, 1970 (eastern Yakutia, Magadan)
  • Oeneis melissa daizetsuzana Matsumura, 1926 (Japan)
  • Oeneis melissa semidea (Say, 1828) (New Hampshire)
  • Oeneis melissa semplei Holland, 1931 (Quebec, inner Labrador, Hudson Bay)
  • Oeneis melissa assimilis Butler, 1868 (Northwest Territories)
  • Oeneis melissa gibsoni Holland, 1931 (Alaska, Yukon, northern British Columbia)
  • Oeneis melissa beanii Elwes, 1893 (Alberta, British Columbia, Washington, Montana, Wyoming)
  • Oeneis melissa lucilla Barnes & McDunnough, 1918
  • Oeneis melissa karae Kusnezov, 1925 (polar tundra of northern Siberia)

References

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  1. ^ "Oeneis Hübner, [1819]" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms