(4) Argynnis nitocris, Edwards, Plate XIII, Fig. 4, ♂, under side (Nitocris).
Butterfly.—The male is bright reddish-fulvous, marked like A. nokomis. The under side of the fore wings is cinnamon-red, ochre-yellow at the tip. The hind wings are deep rusty-red, with a broad yellowish-red submarginal belt. The silver spots are as in A. nokomis. The female on the upper side is blackish-brown, darker than A. nokomis. The extradiscal spots in the transverse rows are pale yellow, and the submarginal spots whitish. The under side of the fore wings is bright red, with the tip yellow. The hind wings on this side are dark brown, with a submarginal yellow belt. Expanse, 3.25-3.75 inches.
This species, like the preceding, is from Arizona, and nothing is known of its egg, caterpillar, or chrysalis.
(5) Argynnis leto, Edwards, Plate IX, Fig. 5, ♂; Fig. 6, ♁ (Leto).
Butterfly.—The male on the upper side is marked much as A. nokomis, but the ground-color is duller red, and the basal area is much darker. The under side of the fore wings is pale fulvous, upon which the markings of the upper side reappear; but there are no marginal silver crescents. Both wings on the under side are shaded with brown toward the base; the hind wings are traversed by a submarginal band of light straw-yellow. The female is marked as the male, but the ground-color is pale straw-yellow, and all the darker markings are deep blackish-brown, those at the base of both wings being broad and running into one another, so that the inner half of the wings appears to be broadly brownish-black. On the under side this sex is marked as the male, but with the dark portions blacker and the lighter portions pale yellow. Expanse, 2.50-3.25 inches.
The life-history of this insect remains to be worked out. It is one of our most beautiful species, and occurs in California and Oregon.
(6) Argynnis cybele, Fabricius, Plate IX, Fig. 3, ♂; Fig. 4, ♁; Plate XIII, Fig. 1, ♁, under side; Plate V, Figs. 1-3, chrysalis (The Great Spangled Fritillary).
Butterfly.—The male is much like the male of A. leto, but the dark markings of the upper surface are heavier, and the under sides of the hind wings are more heavily silvered. The yellowish-buff submarginal band on the under side of the hind wings is never obliterated by being invaded by the darker ferruginous of the marginal and discal tracts of the wing. The female has the ground-color of the wings paler than the male, and both wings from the base to the angled median band on the upper side are dark chocolate-brown. All the markings of the upper side in this sex are heavier than in the male. On the under side the female is like the male. Expanse, 3.00-4.00 inches.
Egg.—Short, conoidal, ribbed like those of other species, and honey-yellow.
Caterpillar.—The larva in the mature state is black. The head is blackish, shaded with chestnut behind. The body is ornamented with six rows of shining black branching spines, generally marked with orange-red at their base. The caterpillar, which is nocturnal, feeds on violets, hibernating immediately after being hatched from the egg, and feeding to maturity in the following spring.