Silver-Washed Fritillary 



great majority of specimens of Adippe, the under side 

 of the fore-wing is devoid of silvery spots. While 

 Adippe may be fairly common in the South, it is by no 

 means so widely distributed, nor does it range so far 

 north as Aglaia. In Scotland it is unknown. 



The caterpillar is dark grey, with a whitish line along 

 the back, and is covered with rust-red spines. It feeds 

 on Viola. The butterfly appears in July. 



THE SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY (Argynnis Paphia), 

 Plate IV., Fig. 3. This is the largest of our native 

 Fritillaries, and is easily distinguished from the others 

 by an entire absence of the silvery spots so character- 

 istic of this genus. The upper surface of the male is 

 of a warm, orange-brown, streaked and dotted with 

 black on both wings ; the under side of the fore-wing 

 is much lighter, the spots on it are smaller, and the tip 

 is marked with olive ; the hind- wing under side bears 

 a fine combination of pale olive with faint lavender 

 and silver streaks, while its outer margin is distinctly 

 scalloped. The female is quite different. In it the 

 ground colour of the upper side of the fore-wings is much 

 paler, and the black streaks along the veins are absent. 

 The hind-wings have the same pale tint, but with a 

 more decided tinge of olive, while the under sides of 

 both wings, and especially of the hind ones, are pale 

 olive green, and the scalloping round the outer margin 

 of both wings is more pronounced. In the female 

 variety Valesina^ the upper surface has a dark olive 

 ground shading out towards the tip of the fore-wings. 

 This, with the black spots lying on it, gives the butterfly 

 47 



