BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



generally feed separately on violets, or plants 

 of the natural order Violarieae, the roots of 

 which have strongly purgative properties, and 

 they are almost invariably refused as food by 

 birds. They pass the winter at the roots of 

 the food-plant, or of some neighbouring her- 

 bage, either on the ground or near it. They 

 feed principally in the spring, and become 

 chrysalids on the approach of summer. These 

 are humped and angled, and are generally 



decorated with brilliant metallic colours. The 

 perfect insects have knobbtd antennae ; the 

 costal margin of the fore wings is arched, and 

 they have a bold and graceful flight. The 

 colour of the upper side is bright sienna- 

 brown, spotted with black ; the under side 

 of the hind wings is a'dorned with spots of 

 the most brilliant silver. We have six species 

 in this country, all of them included in the 

 genus Argynnis. 



1. Silver- washed Frifcillary (Argynnis Paphia), Upper side of the Male. 



1. SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY. Thecostal 

 margin of the fore wings is strongly arched, 

 the tip very slightly hooked, and the hind 

 margin very slightly incurved about the 

 middle. The hind margin of the hind wings 



is scalloped, but not deeply : the colour of the 

 upper surface is a bright sienna-brown in the 

 male, and the fore wings have four longitu- 

 dinal raised black stripes on the wing-rays, all 

 of them parallel to each other, and also parallel 



Upper side of a Variety of the Male, in the cabinet of Mr. Bond. 



to the inner margin ; they are united by short 

 black bars ; there are four similar short black 

 bars near the base of the wing, and two series 

 of roundish black spots parallel with the hind 

 margin : the hind wings have several short 



transverse black bars near the base, and two 

 series of almost circular black spots parallel 

 with the hind margin. A pair of these black 

 spots intervenes between each two of the 

 wing-rays always without touching them ; 



