LEPIDOPTERA. 
35 
those of the silver-washed are slashed obliquely towards the lower angle. The 
Queen of Spain {A. lathonia), a much rarer insect, and the two elegant little pearl- 
bordered fritillaries (A. euphrosyne and A. selene ) are also British. The greasy 
fritillary ( Melitcea aurinia ) brings us to another genus, the members of which 
closely resemble those of the former, but are as a rule smaller. So many figures of 
all the British species have been published, that detailed description is superfluous. 
The greasy fritillary inhabits low-lying marshy meadows in various localities in 
England, where the larvae feed on the plantain. The heath fritillary (J/. athalia) 
is a very similar though very local species; while the glanville (M. cinxia ) is rare 
in Britain, where it is confined to the Isle of Wight. Many handsome species of 
this genus are found in all the more northern regions of the world, but undoubtedly 
the most numerous occur in the South-Western United States. The magnificent 
fritillary A. childreni, which measures nearly 5 inches from wing-tip to wing-tip, 
is indigenous to the Himalaya. Closely allied to the fritillaries is the map-butter¬ 
fly ( Araschnia levana ) of Central Europe. It presents two very distinct forms, 
one of which {A. levana) appears in the spring, the other (A. prorsa) later on in 
the summer, while an intermediate form {A. porima ) is also recognised. The form 
known as the spring brood, figured on p. 90, is fulvous red with scattered black 
spots, presenting also three white spots near the tip of the wing. The summer 
brood (Fig. 4) has black wings with a red marginal line, having besides a broad 
broken white bar across the wings and some white spots near the margin. The 
larvae feed on the nettle in June and September. The insect, though common on 
the Continent, has not been taken in England. The curiously-shapecl butterfly 
known as the common ( Polygonia c-album), was formerly much more common in 
England than it is at present. The wings are rufous with black spots, and very 
strongly emarginate along the edges, and angular. The white c-shaped spots on 
either hind-wing beneath render it not easily mistaken for any other British 
species. 
The handsome butterflies known as tortoiseshells ( Vanessa ) are amongst the 
most widely distributed of the family, though confined to the Northern Hemisphere. 
Most inhabit the more temperate regions of Europe, Asia, and America, although a 
few occur in India, Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula, and Mexico, The caterpillars 
feed on plants and trees, and are usually dark and spinous. The chrysalis, angular 
and distinguished by its brilliant lustre, is suspended by the tail,and forms a beautiful 
object. The large tortoiseshell (U. polychloros), so common in woods in England, 
is usually found settling upon the trunks of trees, in summer and autumn. The 
wings are rich fulvous-red, blotched and margined with black, and having a 
narrow broken vein of blue just before the outer fringe. The larvae feed on the 
leaves of various trees, and the chrysalis is pale pink relieved with golden 
blotches. The small tortoiseshell (V. urticce), whose jet-black spiny larva feeds 
on the nettle, is amongst the commonest British butterflies. The peacock 
butterfly ( V. id), well known on account of the large eye - like blotches 
on the upper and under - wings, is figured in all its stages in the illustration 
on p. 86. The larvae also feed upon the nettle; and the insect is found 
throughout Europe and Northern Asia as far as Japan, but not in Northern Africa. 
One of the handsomest, and at the same time of the rarest, of British butterflies, 
