SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY 
ii 7 
idity, often devouring the whole of a large violet leaf in less 
than two minutes. The life of the larva extends over ten 
months. The larvae are very active in the sunshine, crawling 
quickly about. 
Pupa. The pupa averages about 22 mm. long. On the 
head are two lateral pointed horns. There is a similar but 
smaller angular projection at the base of the wings, and a 
convex ridge along the base of the inner margin. The pupa 
is concave at the middle. The colour is usually of a pale 
buff, very finely reticulated with dark brown of a fibrous 
pattern ; across the wings are two oblique wavy brown bands. 
On the pro-thorax are two sub-dorsal rows of pointed, conical 
projections ; the first five pairs, of various sizes, are of the 
most intense glittering, metallic burnished appearance, glowing 
with remarkable brilliancy and variety of colour in every 
changing light. The pupa is attached by the cremastral 
hooks to a pad of silk spun on any convenient object, and 
very closely resembles a withered brown, curled-up leaf with 
sparkling drops of dew adhering to it. The pupal state lasts 
about eighteen days. 
Imago. Sexual variation is very distinct. The expanse 
of the wings in the male averages 72 mm.; in the female, 76 mm. 
Male. (Upper Side.) The ground colour is bright fulvous, 
spotted with purplish-black. In the middle of the fore wing 
the nervures are densely covered with black androconial 
scales; the rest of the nervures are outlined with black. 
[UnderSide.) The fore wing is tawny-orange with the apex 
clouded with green. The hind wing is an iridescent bronze- 
green, varying in depth of colouring; there are four wedge- 
shaped silver transverse bands running from the costa, the 
two basal ones extending across the cell. The median com¬ 
pletely crosses the wing to the anal angle, the fourth is 
marginal. Between the median band and the margin the 
whole area, including the silver, is as a rule shot with 
amethyst, while in some specimens it is golden and in others 
coppery. 
Female. The female is much larger than the male, and 
has the ground colour tawny-ochreous. The base of the 
fore wing and nearly the whole of the hind wing are greenish- 
olive. Except for the black scaling of the nervures, which 
