A new species of Oeneis from Alaska, United States, with notes on the Oeneis chryxus complex (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae)

Abstract

Oeneis tanana A. Warren & Nakahara is described from the Tanana River Basin in southeastern Alaska, USA. This new taxon belongs to the bore group of Oeneis Hübner, [1819] and is apparently closest to O. chryxus (E. Doubleday, [1849]) by morphology, including its larger size and similarity of the female genitalia. In wing patterns and COI mitochondrial DNA barcode sequences, it is reminiscent of O. bore (Esper, 1789). A review of O. chryxus subspecies suggest that some may be better treated as species-level taxa. Evolutionary scenarios within the chryxus complex of taxa are discussed. While we hypothesize that O. tanana is best considered a species-level taxon, we have not identified any single character that unambiguously separates it from O. chryxus. Further study is needed to elucidate the species- or subspecies-level status of O. tanana, and to determine if it may have evolved through hybridization between O. chryxus and O. bore.