_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.
_Chrysalis._-The chrysalis is dark brown, mottled with reddish-brown or slaty-gray.
This species, which ranges over the Atlantic States and the valley of the Mississippi as far as the plains of Nebraska, appears to be single-brooded in the North and double-brooded in Virginia, the Carolinas, and the Western States having the same geographical latitude. A small variety of this species, called _A. carpenteri_ by Mr. W.H. Edwards, is found in New Mexico upon the top of Taos Peak, and is believed to be isolated here in a colony, as _OEneis semidea_ is isolated upon the summit of Mount Washington. Specimens of _cybele_ much like those of this New Mexican variety are found in eastern Maine and Nova Scotia, and on the high mountains of North Carolina.
(7) =Argynnis aphrodite=, Fabricius, Plate XIV, Fig. 11, ♀, _under side_; Plate V, Fig. 5, _chrysalis_ (Aphrodite).
_Butterfly._--This species closely resembles _cybele_, but is generally smaller, and the yellow submarginal band on the hind wings is narrower than in _cybele_, and often wholly wanting, the hind wings being broadly brown, particularly in the female sex. The under side of the fore wings at the base and on the inner margin is also brighter red.
The caterpillar, chrysalis, and egg of this species closely resemble those of _cybele_. The caterpillar has, however, a velvety-black spot at the base of each spine, the chrysalis has the tubercles on the back shorter than in _cybele_, and the basal segments are party-colored, and not uniformly colored as in _cybele_.
(8) =Argynnis cipris=, Edwards, Plate XII, Fig. 3, ♂; Fig. 4, ♀ (The New Mexican Silver-spot).
_Butterfly._--This species, which belongs to the Aphrodite-group, may be distinguished by the fact that the fore wings are relatively longer and narrower than in _aphrodite_. The black markings on the upper side of the wings in both sexes are narrower, the dusky clouding at the base of the wings is less pronounced, and the ground-color is brighter reddish-fulvous than in _aphrodite_. On the under side the fore wings lack in the male the pinkish shade at the base and on the inner margin which appears in _aphrodite_, and both the male and the female have the inner two thirds of the hind wings deep cinnamon-red, with only a very narrow buff submarginal band, deeply invaded on the side of the base by rays of the deeper brown color of the inner portion of the wing. Expanse, 2.75-3.15 inches. The insect flies from late June to the end of August.