193 



borders the posterior margin." The chief difference is the straight border to 

 the upperside of the posterior wings. 



The caterpillar, like those of the rest of the genus, feeds on the common 

 violet. 



It has also been reported as being taken in Alderly Park, Cheshire, by Mr. 

 Stanley (but the specimens appear to have been varieties of Selene), and a 

 female as lately as 1872, in Worcester Park, Surrey. — See " Entomologist," 

 Yol. IX., p. 69. 



Argynnis dia is common in spring and autumn, in woods, throughout 

 Central and Southern Europe, and also in Western Asia. 



Genus XX. MELLLEA. 

 Fabricius. 



Melit^e'a, a town in Thessaly. Sodoffsky proposes Melintea, a surname 

 of Yenus, from Mel. honey. 



This genus is difficult to characterise in the perfect state, so as to readily 

 distinguish it from the preceding; but there is one important distinctive 

 character which has been pointed out by Drs. Adolfe and Otto Spyer, viz., 

 that the tarsi of the middle and posterior pair of legs are not spiny on the 

 upper surface, whilst they are so invariably in Argynnis, The hmd-wings 

 also have no silvery spots. The caterpillars differ from those of Argynnis in 

 being shorter in proportion to their thickness, and instead of spines are 

 furnished with short fleshy tubercles beset with short bristles. They feed on 

 plantain and scabious, and when young, live in societies under tents of silk. 



Melitaa does not contain half as many species as Argynnis, only about 

 forty being enumerated. Like it, they inhabit for the most part northern 

 and temperate climes. Many of them are excessively variable, and some 

 species seem to run so much into others, that their discrimination is often a 

 matter of difficulty, which the uniform character of their markings does not 

 tend to simplify. Only three species are British, but though they are vari- 

 able enough, there is no difficulty in distinguishing them. An American 

 species, Tharos, sometimes swarms in countless thousands on Goat Island, in 

 the midst of the falls of Niagara. 



MELlTiEA CINXIA. 



The Glanville Fritillary. 



Cinxia, Linn. Cinx'ia, a surname of Juno, connected with cingulus, a 

 girdle. 



