154 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



Along the margins of cornfields, and at 

 footpaths through meadows, one sees the 

 Small Copper (Polyommcdus phlaeas), Plate 

 XV., Fig. 5. The metallic coppery glitter 

 of its wings renders it unmistakable. The 

 glory of the English fens was the Large 

 Copper, but the drainage of the country 

 and the insensate inroads of collectors, who, 

 instead of being content with a pair of 

 specimens, swept them up in dozens, have 

 exterminated this beautiful insect. 



A considerable number of butterflies are 

 known to our countrymen as c fhtillaries,' 

 on account of a similarity of pattern thought 

 to exist between them and the flowers of 

 that name. I shall mention three of the 

 commonest of them. The Dark Green 

 Fritillary (Argynnis aglaia), Plate XVI., 

 Fig. 1, is not very felicitously named. It 

 is, as indeed they all are, on the upper side 

 reddish-brown spotted with black. On the 

 under side the ground-colour is tinged with 

 green, hence the name. Upon this ground 

 there are numerous large silvery spots. It 

 is a singularly beautiful insect. It shows 

 to greatest advantage during flight, the 



