74 THE COMMONER BUTTERFLIES. 



of this butterfly. It would appear that in the first brood 

 of butterflies, and sometimes but not always in the second, 

 the eggs are not developed in the bodies of the females so 

 as to be ready to lay until the butterfly has been on the 

 wing two or three weeks ; while in part of the second and 

 all of the third brood the eggs are fully developed as soon 

 as the butterflies emerge from the chrysalis, or at any rate in 

 a day or two. So, too, the behavior of the caterpillars is 

 very different, at least in the second brood, some feeding 

 regularly and passing forward to form the chrysalids from 

 which the butterflies of the third brood emerge ; others be- 

 coming lethargic in midsummer, when half grown, and 

 passing into premature hibernation curled up in crannies. 

 As the caterpillars from the eggs of the final brood of but- 

 terflies probably hibernate before moulting at all, the spring 

 opens with caterpillars of different stages of growth and of 

 different generations of the preceding year, which passing 

 on to chrysalis combine to make the first long-drawn-out 

 brood of butterflies. Whether any of the caterpillars of 

 the first brood behave in this way (so that the spring brood 

 of butterflies shall be made up of parts of all the generations 

 of the preceding season) is not yet determined, but it seems 

 probable from the irregularity and long continuance of the 

 second brood of butterflies. 



BRENTHIS MYRINA— THE SILVER BORDERED FRITILLARY. 



(Argynnis myrina.) 



Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings fulvous marked with black ; 

 the markings consist principally of an outer margin inwardly 

 dentate and enclosing fulvous dots, a curving series of round 

 spots beyond middle of outer half of wing, and across the base 

 and middle a coarse and irregular mesh of subcontinuous dashes. 

 Under surface of fore wings fulvous with black markings feebly 

 repeated, a cinnamoneous cloud at apex and apical silvery spots ; 

 of hind wings mixed cinnamoneous and ochraceous, with two 



