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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.
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). Electron microscopic images: A patch of wing: Scales close up: A single scale: Microstructure of a scale: Magnification: Approx. ×50 Approx. ×200 × ...
The colour of butterfly wings is derived from tiny structures called scales, each of which have their own pigments. In Heliconius butterflies, there are three types of scales: yellow/white, black, and red/orange/brown scales. Some mechanism of wing pattern formation are now being solved using genetic techniques.
Pieris rapae is a small- to medium-sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae.It is known in Europe as the small white, in North America as the cabbage white or cabbage butterfly, [note 1] on several continents as the small cabbage white, and in New Zealand as the white butterfly. [2]
Its wings feature an easily recognizable black, orange, and white pattern, with a wingspan of 8.9–10.2 cm (3.5–4.0 in). [10] A Müllerian mimic, the viceroy butterfly, is similar in color and pattern, but is markedly smaller and has an extra black stripe across each hindwing.
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 ...
The basic colour of the wings is black, with a chain of white spots on the forewing and a large white or yellow area on the hindwing. The underside and the upperside of the wings in this species are very similar. The hindwings have wavy margins, with long tails. The thorax and the abdomen are black. [2]
The Morpho Menelaus' characteristic iridescent wings has a unique wing structure. The ground scales are covered by a set of longitudinal ridges, and within the ridges are layers of lamella. [12] Because the size of the microstructure is the same as the wavelength of light, the layers in the wings react strongly with visible light. [2]