Bug FAQReddish Alpine
Erebia lafontainei · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae
The reddish alpine butterfly measures 33 to 41 mm across the wings. It is a member of the Satyrinae subfamily within the Nymphalidae family. It occurs across northern North America from Alaska east to Tuktoyuktuk and adults fly from mid-June to late July.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Erebia lafontainei, known as the reddish alpine, belongs to the subfamily Satyrinae of the Nymphalidae.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Its wingspan ranges between 33 and 41 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its native range covers the same northern North American area from Alaska to Tuktoyuktuk.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It can be confused with the four-dotted alpine (E. youngi) and the scree alpine (E. anyuica).
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Alaska.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
Questions people ask
What other butterflies look like the reddish alpine?
It resembles the four-dotted alpine and the scree alpine.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Nymphalidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erebia_lafontainei
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-26 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-26.