THE TRIBE OF THE FRITILLARIES 125 



The Silver-spot Fritillary 



Argynnis aphrodite 



Our brown Fritillaries are seldom found without several 

 species mingling together. This is not strange, for they 

 have similar habits throughout their entire lives. So when 

 you see a bevy of butterflies collected around the midsum- 

 mer blossoms of the milkweed, you are pretty sure to find 

 that the Great Spangled Fritillary is associated with the 

 Silver-spot and probably one or two other related forms. 

 The Silver-spot is generally decidedly smaller than the 

 one first named and the surest way to be certain of it 

 is to look on the under side of the hind wing and see 

 whether there is a broad band of buff between the two 

 outer rows of silver spots. If this band has disappeared 

 or is nearly all taken up by the brown ground-color of 

 the wing, you may be pretty sure we have the Silver-spot 

 Fritillary. (See plate, page 128.) 



When one has firmly fixed in mind the life cycle of one of 

 these butterflies, one has a model after which to fashion the 

 rest, for our several species are remarkably alike in this 

 respect. 



The Silver-spots are on the wing for several weeks in 

 summer. During the latter part of this time the females 

 lay eggs upon violet leaves. These eggs shortly hatch into 

 caterpillars that go directly into hibernation, taking no 

 food before winter sets in. The following spring they feed 

 upon violet leaves and mature in time to change to chrys- 

 alids and emerge as butterflies in early summer. There is 

 but one brood a year and the species is widely distributed 

 over southern Canada and the Northern states. It extends 



