Arctic butterfly discovery in Alaska

By Hilary Hanson in the USA:

This New ArcticButterfly Species May Only Exist In Alaska

It’s part of a group of butterflies that typically have special traits to help them survive the extreme cold.

03/17/2016 03:00 pm ET

A newly discovered butterfly species may be the only type of butterfly that can be found solely in Alaska.

The Tanana Arctic butterfly (Oeneis tanana), named after Alaska’s Tanana-Yukon River Basin, where the insect lives, has actually been present in a collection at the Florida Museum of Natural History for more than 60 years, according to a University of Florida press release. There, a specimen of the butterfly was categorized as the Chryxus Arctic (Oeneis chryxus), a similar-looking close relative.

But recently, Andrew “Lord of the Butterflies” Warren, a lepidopterist (that’s a scientist who studies butterflies and moths), was sorting through collections when he noticed that…