The _caterpillar_ is tawny-coloured; but the back, for about the hinder half its length, is whitish; head black. The body is armed with short spines, and there are two ear-like tubercles projecting from the side of the head. It has been found feeding on the elm, willow, sloe, currant, nettle, and hop. The _chrysalis_ is of the curious shape shown at fig. 24, Plate I.; of a brownish tint, with gold spots. The _butterfly_ appears in July and August, and hybernated individuals in the spring, up till May. Its range seems to be nearly confined to the Midland and Western districts. It was formerly found near London, and in other places, whence it has now disappeared. The following localities are given for it:--Carlisle and the Lake district, York, Green Hammerton (Yorkshire), Doncaster, Broomsgrove (Worcestershire), Warwickshire, Peterborough, Scarborough, Barnwell Wold (Northamptonshire), Bristol, Gloucester, Dorchester. I found it very plentiful on the banks of the Wye, in 1858; and in the following May I took one in South Wales, at Pont-y-Pridd. In Scotland, Fifeshire has been mentioned as a locality. This is a rapid flyer, and not very easily caught when fresh on the wing. * * * * * {128} THE SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY (_Argynnis Paphia._) (Plate IX. fig. 4, Male; 4 _a_, Female.) The beautiful genus to which this butterfly belongs is distinguished by the adornment of silvery spots and streaks with which the under side of the hind wings is bedight; while the upper surface is chequered with black, upon a rich golden-brown ground, the device reminding one of those old-fashioned chequered flowers called "fritillaries," whence the common name of these butterflies. Of all the British Fritillaries, this is, perhaps, the loveliest, from the exquisite softness and harmony of the silvery pencillings on the iridescent green of the under side; though some of the others with bright silver _spots_ are gayer and more sparkling. The two sexes differ considerably on the upper surface; the _male_ being marked with black (as in the engraving) upon a bright orange-brown ground, while the _female_ is without the broad black borders to the veins of the front wings, and the ground colour is suffused with an olive-brown tint, inclining sometimes to green. The black spots are also larger. Beneath, however, both sexes are marked nearly alike with _washy streaks of silver_, and not with defined spots. {129} The _caterpillar_ (fig. 7, Plate I.), as with all the Fritillaries, is thorny, with two spines behind the head longer than the rest; black, with yellow lines along the back and sides. It feeds on violet leaves, also on the wild raspberry and nettle. The _chrysalis_ (fig. 16, Plate I.) is greyish, with the tubercles silvered or gilt.