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The Silver-Spot Fritillary

Argynnis aphrodite (Ar-gyn'nis aph-ro-di'te) PLATE XXI, FIG. 3 See description of the great spangled fritillary and the table above for the characteristics of this species.

CATERPILLAR. -Length one and one-half inches. This caterpillar closely resembles that of the preceding species, except that there is a velvety black spot at the base of each spine. Food-plant. Violets.

When we made our childish observations on the butterflies that had adopted a free silver coinage we often crept up carefully and seized one of them by his closed wings and counted his "dollars" for him. The ones that we caught were undoubtedly the silver-spots, for of all the butterflies that frequent "The Sign of the Thistle" these are most reckless and oblivious of danger when tippling. This species is more common in the northern United States than is the preceding. It flies during July, August, and September. Once about the middle of September I found a specimen caught in the net of the Argiope spider. I rescued it, and while removing the web I was astonished that it could have flown at all on such torn and battered wings. The edges were frayed for a third of the length of the wing, and the silver was tarnished and the red and black were faded to a dull dust color. But its antennæ were active and its body bright, and it seemed grateful for release and went careening along on its poor wings, brave to the very last. Surely butterflies have their troubles also in a world where the sun does not always shine.

The habits of the caterpillar of the silverspot are like those of the great spangled. The baby caterpillar rashly comes out of its protecting egg at a time when most creatures are seeking shelter.