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Though there is great diversity in scale form, they are structured similarly. The body or 'blade' of a typical scale consists of an upper and lower lamina. The surface of the lower lamina is smooth whereas the structure of the upper lamina is structured and intricate. Scales are attached to the substrate by a stalk or 'pedicel'. [1]
The scales on butterfly wings are pigmented with melanins that can produce the colours black and brown. The white colour in the butterfly family Pieridae is a derivative of uric acid, an excretory product. [13] [40]: 84 Bright blues, greens, reds, and iridescence are usually created not by pigments but through the microstructure of the scales.
Lepidoptera (/ ˌ l ɛ p ɪ ˈ d ɒ p t ər ə / LEP-ih-DOP-tər-ə) or lepidopterans is an order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths.About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organisms, [1] [2] making it the second largest insect order (behind Coleoptera) with 126 families [3] and 46 superfamilies ...
Photographic and light microscopic images: Zoomed-out view of an Aglais io.: Closeup of the scales of the same specimen. High magnification of the coloured scales (probably a different species).
C. xanthurus is one of the "crowned" butterflyfishes. These form a group of largely allopatric species sharing the overall color pattern of dark forward-pointing chevrons on silvery hues, (usually) a black-and-white crown spot and yellow to red hindparts to a stunning degree; they differ in the exact combination of hues and some small pattern details.
The insect order Lepidoptera consists of moths and butterflies (43 superfamilies). [1] Most moths are night-flying, while the butterflies (superfamily Papilionoidea ) are the mainly day-flying. Within Lepidoptera as a whole, the groups listed below before Glossata contain a few basal families accounting for less than 200 species; the bulk of ...
The name "butterfly" is believed to have originated from a member of this family, the brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni, which was called the "butter-coloured fly" by early British naturalists. [ 2 ] The sexes usually differ, often in the pattern or number of the black markings.
The wings are distinctly large, over 50 mm (2.0 in) long, often with centrally placed eye spots and the ovoid to triangular wings have numerous closely spaced branching veins. [1] Most of the species also have distinctly developed wing scales , a feature seen in Lepidopterans.