Females from the Continent may arrive on our east or south coasts in May, and deposit eggs from which the autumn butterflies are developed. Some of these might wander farther inland, but eggs would almost certainly be laid on the spot. The fate of the caterpillars from autumnal eggs would depend on the winter; if mild they, or at least some of them, might manage to get through and attain the butterfly state about May, but their doing so is rather doubtful. The species is widely distributed and often common on the Continent, and its range extends to Persia, Northern Asia, and North Africa. In Eastern Asia it is represented by var. _isoea_. The Pearl-bordered Fritillary (_Argynnis euphrosyne_). Some authors consider the smaller Fritillaries to be generically separable from the larger kinds, and place this and the next species in the genus _Brenthis_, whilst the Queen of Spain is referred to the genus _Issoria_, Hübner. Here, however, they are retained in _Argynnis_. In colour and in the marking of the upper side the Pearl-bordered is very like the High Brown, but, as will be seen from the figures, it is much smaller in size, and the ornamentation on the under side is different. There is one silvery spot at the base of the hind wings, a larger one about the middle of the wings, and a row of spots on the outer margin. The female is rather larger than the male, and darker at the bases of the wings. [Illustration: _Pl. 58._ =Queen of Spain Fritillary.= _Caterpillar and chrysalis._] [Illustration: _Pl._ 59. =Dark Green Fritillary.= 1, 4 _male_; 2, 3, 5 _female_.] Variation on the upper side consists of more or less black suffusion on the basal or general area of the wings, and an increase in the size of the black spots, resulting in the formation of bands or patches; or the black spots may be much reduced in size, and some of them entirely absent. Some of the more striking kinds of aberration, both above and below, are represented on Plate 56, Figs. 1-3, and Plate 65, Figs. 1-4. The usual colour is sometimes replaced by buff, and this may be yellowish or whitish in tint; occasionally white spots appear on the wings. The life-history of this butterfly is depicted on Plate 60. The egg, which is laid in May or June, is whitish-green at first, and afterwards turns brownish. It is distinctly ribbed, and the top is somewhat rounded and hollowed in the centre.