212 Zoology of Colorado 



The species of Argytmis, known as Silver-spot Butterflies or 

 Fritillaries, have a rather uniform appearance, above more or less 

 rich rusty red (ferruginous) with black spots and short bars or 

 stripes, and on the under wings below with beautiful shining silver 

 spots. The spiny larvae mostly feed on the leaves of violets. 

 Many species live in Colorado. One of the finest is the large 



A. edwardsi of Reakirt, which has the under side of the hind wings 

 olive green, more or less streaked with pale yellow, and the silver 

 spots extraordinarily large and brilliant. Specimens before me 

 were taken by Max Dings near Long's Peak. It was named in 

 honor of W. H. Edwards of West Virginia, who was for many 

 years the leading authority on North American butterflies. A 

 common butterfly easily confused with Argynnis is Euptoieta 

 claudia, belonging to a genus which seems to have originated in 

 Central or South America. On the upper side the general effect 

 is that of a fritillary, but there is a zigzag black line crossing the 

 wings, to the outer side of which is a pale band. There are no 

 silver spots beneath. The genus Brenthis consists of small butter- 

 flies sometimes included in Argynnis, but strikingly different in 

 appearance. B. myrina has shining silver spots beneath, but 



B. helena, which occurs at high altitudes, has the hind wings 

 beneath variegated with yellow, rust-red and white, not shining. 

 Mead in 1875 said of B. helena: "It inhabits the highest peaks. . . 

 At 13,000 and 14,000 feet though the temperature must descend 

 below the freezing point every night through the summer, the 

 species seems perfectly at home, and is often more abundant 

 than below." Another species reported by Mead, as especially 

 occurring near Fairplay, was B. Iriclaris; but recently it has been 

 considered by Barnes and McDunnough that this was an error of 

 identification, and they have proposed the name B. aphirape 

 alticola. The typical B. aphirape is European. There are two 

 other genera of small, mainly ferruginous and black butterflies, 

 which are well represented in Colorado. These are Melitaea 

 (from which Scudder's Euphydryas is often separated) and Phy- 

 ciodes. A common species of Phyciodes (P. ismeria) comes from 

 spiny larvae feeding on sunflower. 



The genus Chlorippe, the larvae of which feed on Celtis 

 (hackberry), is represented in Colorado by C. montis of Edwards, 

 as understood by Holland, but Barnes and McDunnough (1913) 



