This splendid little species is one of the prize-flies of the collector--that is, if the specimen be an undoubted native; for while a "Queen of Spain" taken within our shores will command a considerable sum of money in the market, another, precisely similar, but brought over from the opposite French coast, may be bought for a very few pence; but the mode of carriage, you see, makes all the difference, and the value of the insect depends entirely upon whether its own wings or a steam-boat have brought it over the Channel. So much for "the fancy." When figured side by side with the other Fritillaries, this species looks distinct enough from any of them; {132} but it has been several times confounded with small specimens of _Adippe_ and with _Euphrosyne_, and its capture has thereupon been erroneously published; but this must have been the effect of a description imperfectly written or read. It will be observed that the form of the front wings differs in this from the rest of the Fritillaries, the outer margin being _concave_ in its outline. The inner corner of the hind wings also is more sharply angular. Above, the colouring of the wings is similar to that of the others of the genus, tawny-brown and black. Beneath, the front wing has a group of silver spots near the tip, the ground colour of the hind wing is yellowish, and the silver spots are proportionately larger than in the other species; _near the margin of the hind wing_, and parallel with its edge, are _seven dark-brown spots with silver centres_. The _caterpillar_ is brown, striped with white, and yellowish tint; head, legs, and thorns, tawny coloured. It feeds on the wild heartsease, also on sainfoin and borage. The _chrysalis_ is tinted with dull-green and brown, and spotted with gold. The _butterfly_ is said to be double-brooded--one brood appearing in June, the other in September. The most likely places in which to look for it are clover fields in the south of England, and more especially on the south-east coast. Though still classed among the rarest of British butterflies, it has been found in a great many localities. It has been taken at Brighton; Shoreham; Eastbourne; Dover; Margate; Ashford; Chatham; Exeter; Bristol; Harleston, near Norwich; Colchester; Lavenham; Peterborough. [Illustration: XIII.] {133} THE PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY. (_Argynnis Euphrosyne._) (Plate X. fig. 4.) This very common insect is considerably smaller than any of the preceding species, though small specimens of the last sometimes do not much exceed it in size. The upper surface is lively orange-brown, with black markings. Beneath, the _hind wing_ is mapped out with black lines into various irregular spaces, _all_ of which are filled with tints of dull yellow, ochreous, or reddish orange; excepting a row of silver spots on the border, _one silver spot in the centre of the wing_, and _one_ triangular one close to the root of the wing.