The butterfly in June and July frequents similar places to those favoured by the Pearl-bordered, and its distribution in Britain is somewhat similar, although it is a more local species. It seems, however, to be commoner in Scotland than the Pearl-bordered, and has been recorded at least once from Ireland. Its range abroad extends farther east, as it is found in Corea. The Heath Fritillary (_Melitæa athalia_). The ground colour of this butterfly, sometimes called the "Pearl-bordered Likeness" or "May Fritillary," is brownish-orange, and the markings are black or blackish; the bases of the wings are clouded with blackish, and the fringes are white checkered with black. The ground colour varies in tint, and may be pale tawny or deep reddish. The black markings are subject to modification in two directions; in one leading up to almost complete disappearance from the central area, and in the other they are much intensified and greatly obscure the ground colour. Sometimes the whole of the wings, with the exception of a series of orange spots on the outer area, are blackish. This form is known as var. _navarina_. The left-hand figure at the bottom of Plate 68 shows an aberration approaching this form, whilst the right-hand figure comes close to var. _corythalia_. Specimens with all the wings thinly marked with black, as in the fore wing of the variety last referred to, would be referable to var. _obsoleta_. According to Barrett, specimens from Essex have the ground colour on the under side of the hind wing much yellower than are the same parts in specimens from Sussex. I have not noticed this, but some Essex examples that I have seen were much darker and more heavily marked with black on the upper side, and especially on the hind wings, than any that I have seen from other parts of England, except, perhaps, a few individuals from North Devonshire. These Essex specimens reminded me very much of _M. dictynna_, a Continental species, with which, it appears, the Heath Fritillary was confounded by some of the old authors. [Illustration: _Pl._ 62. =Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.= _Egg, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar (after Buckler), and chrysalis._] [Illustration: _Pl._ 63. =Queen of Spain Fritillary.= 1, 2 _male_; 3, 4 _female_.] There is a good deal of variation on the under side, but chiefly of a minor character, and most often unconnected with variation on the upper side. The following are more important varieties. Var. _tessellata_, the Straw May Fritillary of Petiver, and figured by him in 1717 and by Stephens in 1827, has the under side of the hind wings entirely straw-coloured with black veins. There are three large squarish yellow spots on the basal area, outlined in black; a yellow central band, margined and traversed by black lines. On the outer margin there is a series of yellow crescents, outlined in black.