Genus ARGYNNIS, Fabricius, 1807 
THE SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY 
Argynnis paphia (Linn., 1758). 
(Plate IX, facing page 112) 
This fine and attractive butterfly is 
the largest and commonest of the large 
British Fritillaries. 
Haunts. Although an inhabitant of 
the woodlands, in some districts it may 
be met with in lanes and rough unculti¬ 
vated ground which abounds especially 
in Brambles, Thistles and other flower¬ 
ing plants. 
Distribution. This butterfly occurs 
in most of the larger woods and forests 
of the southern and south-western 
counties of England and Wales, be¬ 
coming rarer northwards and scarce in 
Scotland. In Ireland it is common and 
generally distributed over almost all 
the wooded districts. Abroad this 
Fritillary is widely distributed, occur¬ 
ring throughout Europe and Asia, also 
China and Japan. 
Time of Appearance. The Silver- 
washed Fritillary appears on the wing 
in July and August and in some of the 
south-western localities it occurs until 
the middle of September. The males 
are the first to make their appearance 
and by the middle of July the females are on the wing. In 
very early seasons, such as 1893 and 1933, these butterflies 
were out in June. In 1893, the year of the great drought, 
a large proportion of this species was considerably dwarfed, 
with an average expanse of wings measuring only 50 mm., 
and the majority of the ab. valezina were much paler in colour. 
No doubt these abnormal conditions resulted from the ex¬ 
cessive heat and droilght of that year. 
Sixth segment of the 
larva of the Silver-washed 
Fritillary just after emer¬ 
gence (magnified). 
B.B. 
1*3 
H 
