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Besides providing insulation, dark patterns on wings provided by dark colour scales would allow sunlight to be absorbed and thus probably have a role to play in thermoregulation. Bright and distinctive colour patterns in butterflies which are distasteful to predators help communicate their aposematism (toxicity or inedibility) thus preventing a ...
Scales play an important part in the natural history of Lepidoptera. Scales enable the development of vivid or indistinct patterns which help the organism protect itself by camouflage, mimicry, and warning. Besides providing insulation, dark patterns on wings allow sunlight to be absorbed and are probably involved in thermoregulation.
Moths have larger scales on their wings which makes them look more dense and fluffy. Butterflies on the other hand possess fine scales. This difference is possibly due to the need for moths to conserve heat during the cooler nights, or to confound echolocation by bats, whereas butterflies are able to absorb sunlight .
Lepidopterology (from Ancient Greek λεπίδος (lepídos) 'scale' πτερόν (pterón) 'wing' and -λογία [1]) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the two superfamilies of butterflies. Someone who studies in this field is a lepidopterist or, archaically, an aurelian.
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 ...
Transition of scales color on a butterfly wing (30x magnification). The two pairs of wings are found on the middle and third segment, or mesothorax and metathorax respectively. In the more recent genera, the wings of the second segment are much more pronounced, however some more primitive forms have similarly sized wings of both segments.
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]
The colours on the Madagascan sunset moth's wings are produced by the conjunction of two optical phenomena: An air-cuticle multilayer in the scales creates optical interference. Each scale contains cuticle layers with randomly located blocks of cuticle that hold them in place and maintain an air gap between them.