28 B. C. KNTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



the express purpose of studying the type specimens of No. Amer. Lepi- 

 doptera which were contained in British, French, Belgium and German 

 Museums. After his return from Europe he visited the principal 

 museums of the United States, where type collections were known to 

 exist. The total result of these examinations of type specimens has 

 been to elucidate many perplexing problems, and to put our knowledge 

 of the species on a far better basis than has hitherto been possible. In 

 the genus under discussion, there still remains in certain groups, much 

 work to be done in careful breeding, and a comparison of the larval 

 stages before a proper understanding of the species can be arrived at. 



Egg. The eggs of this genus are beautiful objects under the micro- 

 scope, being truncate conoidal, in shape something like a thimble, orna- 

 mented on the side by parallel raised ridges, between these ridges are 

 a number of small cross ridges, giving it a reticulated appearance. 

 According to W. G. Wright, in his "Butterflies of the West Coast," 

 some species of this genus oviposit like a grasshopper, thrusting the 

 ovipositor down amongst the dead leaves and rubbish under small 

 bushes ; others drop their eggs while flying over suitable places. The 

 eggs hatch in about three weeks, the young larva devouring its shell ; 

 it then goes into lethargy without eating anything else and thus it hiber- 

 nates, a tiny thing, not half so big as a pin's head, naked, without any 

 covering, in the wet and frozen rubbish, till the leaves of its food plant 

 shall grow in the early spring. 



Larva. The larvae are cylindrical and covered with spines, the 

 first segment always bearing a pair of spines somewhat longer than 

 the others. So far as is known the North American species of this genus 

 feed on the various species of wild violets, they are nocturnal feeders, 

 lying concealed during the day. 



Chrysalis. The chrysalids are rather large ; angular; with more or 

 less prominent projections and a bifid head. 



As stated before, North America has shown the greatest develop- 

 ment in this genus, no less than 63 described forms and species being 

 recognized in the B. & McD. Check List. 



In the 1904 B. C. Check List 14 species were listed, 9 of which 

 were misidentifications, and in some cases the same species was listed 

 under two or three different names. I am rather afraid that comparison 

 with Holland's Butterfly Book was responsible for many of the errors 

 in that list. 



In the 1906 List we find but 10 species listed, of which only four 

 were misidentifications, or species not occurring in the Province. 



Up to the present I have 8 species and 7 geographical races listed 

 from the Province, and out of these 15 forms I have 14 in my own collec- 

 tion, the remaining species being found in the far north of the Province. 



1. Argynnis leto Behr. This *is the largest and most beautiful 

 species that we have in the Province. It is especially interesting from 



