ARGYNNIS. 57 



cult to try to capture it without the risk of tearing or entangling 

 the net. 



THE DARK GREEN FRITILLARY. ARGYNNIS AGLAIA. 

 (Plate XII., Figs. I, 2.) 



Papilio aglaia, Linn., Syst. Nat (ed. x.), i., p. 481, no. 140 

 (1758); id., Faun. Suec. (ed. ii.), p. 281 (1761); Esper, 

 Schmett, i. (i), p. 229, pi. 17, fig. 3 ; i. (2), p. 57, pi. 60, 

 fig- 2 (1777). 



Argynnis aglaia, Steph., 111. Brit. Ent. Haust, i., p. 39 (1827); 

 Curtis, Brit. Ent, vii., pi. 290 (1830) ; Kirby, Eur. Butter- 

 flies and Moths, p. 21, pi. 9, figs. 4a-d (1878); Lang, 

 Butterflies Eur., p. 209, pi. 50, fig. i (1883); Buckler, 

 Larvae Brit. Butterflies and Moths, i., p. 71, pi. 10, fig. 3 

 (1886); Barrett, Lepid. Brit Isl., i., p. 167, pi. 24 (1892). 



Var. Papilio chariot fa^ Haworth, Lepid. Brit., i., p. 32, no. 37 

 (1803); Sowerby, Brit. Miscell., i., pi. n (1806). 



The Dark Green Fritillary is the commonest and most widely- 

 distributed of our larger Fritillaries, and is found in meadows 

 and on heaths, frequently settling on flowers, though capable 

 of a strong and sustained flight It is met with in June and 

 July. 



It generally measures from 2^ to 2^ inches across the 

 wings, which are fulvous on the upper surface, and darker, with 

 a slight greenish shade, in the female. The base is more or 

 less black, and the hind-margins are black, with a festooned 

 black line running round them, enclosing fulvous spots. Within 

 . this is a transverse series of larger round spots ; and nearer the 

 base are more black spots and short streaks in the cell and be- 

 tween the nervures. The fore-wings are fulvous beneath, with 

 the tip and hind-margin greenish, more or less spotted with 

 silver. The hind-wings are greenish, with a band of silvery 



i 2 



