When this butterfly first breaks through the mummy shell, its wings are very small, although its body, antennae, and legs are well developed. By means of the latter, it clings to the empty chrysalis, while its wings expand. At first these wings are short, but as soon as the insect takes a position in which the wings hang downward, they begin to expand, and soon reach full length, but are more or less crumpled longitudinally, and the front wings are not so wide as the hind ones, hanging limply inside the latter. After the butterfly has thus reached its full form and size, it crawls from the chrysalis to some neighboring support, where it rests quietly for half an hour or more. During the latter part of this time it exercises its unused muscles by slowly opening and closing its wings, until it finally flies away. THE TRIBE OF THE FRITILLARIES This is one of the most distinctive tribes of the family of Nymphs. The clubs of the antennae are about twice as long as broad and curiously spoon-shaped. The palpi are large and bushy, with the last joint very short. Most of the species are rather large and practically all are beautifully mottled in various tones of brown, red, black, and silvery gray. A large proportion of our midsummer butterflies are members of this tribe. =The Gulf Fritillary= _Agraulis vanillae_ In tropical America there is a genus of butterflies called Agraulis. These are fairly large insects, approximating the size of the Viceroy, which show most beautiful colors in the tropical sunshine. One member of this genus has come north to our Southern states, and is occasionally found as far up as Virginia and southern Illinois, extending below this from ocean to ocean. It reveals on its upper surface the most exquisite tints of iridescent purples and browns, suggesting by its form and color as thus seen a tropical species. The lower wing surface, when the wings are closed in their natural position, shows only a spangled effect of silver-white and brown, which is very suggestive of the under surface of our northern Spangled Fritillaries. So this beautiful species may fittingly be called the Gulf Fritillary, carrying over from the north some of its peculiar beauty and connecting with the equally distinctive beauty of the tropical south. Like so many other southern butterflies the eggs of this species are laid upon the leaves of passion vines. The caterpillars develop very rapidly and when matured are yellowish or brownish yellow, striped with darker lines along the back and sides. There are black branching spines, arranged in rows beginning on the head and running backward on the body. The whole cycle of life from egg to butterfly may take place within the short period of a month and one brood succeeds another in so irregular and rapid a fashion that it is difficult to determine definitely the number of broods in a season. =The Variegated Fritillary= _Euptoieta claudia_