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The Great Spangled Fritillary (EE With the outer-marginal)

EE. With the outer-marginal and submarginal lines of the upper surface of the wings united into a common black band throughout a considerable part of their length, the quadrangular bars being outer two-fifths deep orange. The veins on the orange portion are more or less shaded with brown, and this part of the wing is crossed by two series of brown spots. In the female the upper surface of the wings is blue or green-black; the outer third of the fore wings is crossed by three rows of blue or whitish spots; the outer third of the hind wings is dark metallic blue or green interrupted on the veins by the ground color, and with marginal and submarginal bands, and a series of spots near the base of this third, all of the ground color. The male expands three and three-fourths inches; the female a little over four inches.

CATERPILLAR. -Black and velvety. The barbed spines are fleshy and orange-colored at their base, and arranged in six longitudinal rows. The head is brownish.

Food-plant. Violets.

This is one of the largest and most beautiful species of fritillaries; and when one sees both sexes the resemblance between them is so slight that one wonders how they have sufficient acumen to select each other. It is true their wings are of the same "cut," and the silver crescents mark the outer edge of the under side of the hind wings of both, and both are attired in textures of velvet.

But beyond these slight resemblances they are so different in color and markings that no one would guess they belonged to the same species, unless he had knowledge of their habits. Even the colors of the under side of the wings are different. The gorgeous orange and seal-brown wings of the male disport a lining of buff, while the black and metallic-blue wings of the female have a lining of sober grayish brown, decorated on the fore wings with blue and black patches. The chrysalis is grayish brown with projections on the back that are of lighter hue. It is certainly a very ordinary looking case to hold such an extraordinary butterfly. The species is single-brooded, and occurs in "the hilly country of the South, following the Alleghanies, and a comparatively narrow belt westward at about the 38th parallel of latitude." (Scudder.)