In shape and in general appearance this butterfly is not unlike a small example of the Silver-washed Fritillary; the large silvery, or sometimes pearly, blotches on the under side of the hind wings at once reveal its higher British rank. When flying it has a curious resemblance to the Wall, and sometimes it has been taken when the captor supposed that he was netting a specimen of that plebeian butterfly. The black markings on the upper side vary somewhat in size, and occasionally those on the front area, or those on the inner area of the fore wings, are more or less confluent; very rarely the wings are suffused with a steely-blue or bronze colour. The specimens occurring in this country do not, however, exhibit so much variation as has been observed in this butterfly abroad. I have not seen any of the early stages. The figures of the caterpillar and the chrysalis (Plate 58) are after Hübner, and the following descriptions of the egg and other stages are adapted from the detailed life-history of the species by Mr. Frohawk, published in the _Entomologist_ for 1903:-- "The egg is one-fortieth of an inch high, of a rather straight-sided conical form, widest at the base, where it is smooth and rounded off at the edge. There are about forty longitudinal keels, irregularly formed and of different lengths, some not reaching halfway up the side, and others running the entire length from base to crown, where they terminate abruptly, and form a series of triangular peaks round the summit surrounding the granulated micropyle; the spaces between the keels are finely ribbed transversely. When first laid it is of a very pale lemon-yellow colour, inclining to ochreous, appearing almost white in certain lights; the colour gradually deepens, becoming yellower with a greenish tinge. On the fifth day the crown of the egg assumes a dull grey, finally changing to a lilac-grey." The female butterfly, when placed in the sunshine, laid about a hundred eggs during the day--August 7. These were mostly placed singly on the leaves or other parts of a plant of heart's-ease (_Viola tricolor_), but some were laid on the gauze cover of the cage. All the caterpillars hatched out on August 14. The caterpillar when full grown is velvety black, densely sprinkled with tiny white dots, each bearing a black bristle; there are six rows of spines, which are of various shades of brown with yellowish bases and shining black bristles; along the back there are two white streaks on the fore part of each ring, and white warts emitting black bristles on the hind part. The head is amber-coloured above, but black below, and is covered with bristles like the body. The chrysalis has the head, thorax, and wing-cases shining olive-brown; the body chequered and speckled with olive-brown, ochreous, black, and white. The spiracles are black and conspicuous, and the points on the body are amber-coloured. The thorax and first two body rings have brilliant burnished silver-gilt ornamentation.