LEPIDOPTERA. 263 



darker colour. The upper side is too well known to 

 require any description. 



All the Vanessas, which include the Peacock, Tortoise- 

 shells, Red Admiral, &c., and which, except the latter, are 

 somewhat sober in the colouring of their under side, are 

 remarkable for the ragged outline which they display 

 when closed, but which the patterns and colours of 

 their plumage render less conspicuous when expanded, 

 and still more ragged than any of these is one in the 

 next genus, Grapta, a rather scarce Butterfly, which a 

 young entomologist might almost pass by, when at 

 rest, as a torn and spoiled specimen. Above it is deep 

 yellow, brown, and black ; below, dark and dusky, and 

 marked in the middle of the hind-wing with a c-shaped 

 white spot, by which it may be recognised. 



If among the Tortoiseshell and Peacock Butterflies a 

 beautifully marked and coloured upper surface is often 

 contrasted with a dark and dingy under side, in the 

 Fritillaries which succeed them we find several species 

 decorated underneath in an exquisite manner. In these 

 insects the jagged and irregular outline disappears 

 the upper side is a rich tawny colour, distinctly 

 lined and spotted with black : the under side of 

 the wings is studded with spots (in one species with 

 bands) of burnished silver. The silvery (not ivhite) 

 appearance of these spots is very remarkable, the 

 effect being exactly that of the polished metal. A 

 similar plumage is found in some minute moths, whilst 

 in others appears a surface of true golden or brassy 

 lustre. These silvered Butterflies are of the genus 

 Argynnis ; other Fritillaries, belonging to the genus 

 Melitcea, in the same family, resemble them in their 

 general colouring, but are without these spots. 



