Butterfly Wing Anatomy

A butterflys most dramatic anatomical features are its wings. Theyre made of an extremely thin transparent material called chitin stretched over a series of vein like structures.

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In between the segments are flexible areas that allow the butterfly to move.

Butterfly wing anatomy. Beyond rubbing scales off you could also break a butterflys wing if you handle it roughly. Thick stripes may be used to fill the middle field of the wings. Butterfly wings are made of hardened membrane strengthened by veins and covered by tiny scales.

Both pairs of wings also attach to the thorax. The second section of the butterfly or moth body the thorax consists of three segments fused together. Each scale is a single color.

Butterfly wings arent just beautiful. Butterfly wing scales are laid out in neat rows like the tiles on a roof. Although they are strong enough to support the butterflys body in the air they are also flexible to enable flight.

Butterfly wing anatomy a butterfly has four wings two forewings and two hindwings. All butterflies and moths except plume moths have 2 pairs of overlapping wings each comprised of a very thin double membrane with rigidity supplied by a network of tubular veins which radiate from the base of the wings. Wing veins tubes with thickened walls contain trachea nerves and space for hemolymph to move through.

The intricate designs of butterfly wings are produced by thousands of scales arrayed in complex patterns and overlapping one another like shingles on a roof. The forewings are closer to the butterflys head and are roughly triangular. The butterfly can also move its wings by changing the shape of its thorax.

The specialized mouth parts of the adult butterfly are unusual. Strong muscles in the thorax move the wings up and down in a figure eight pattern during flight. Small structures attach the wings to the thorax and muscles attached to these structures move the wings.

Some scales like those from the orange area of the wing of gonepteryx cleopatra are shield shaped others can be shapes like hearts spears or very long thin hairs depending on their location and function. Each of the two wings is divided into two parts the upper forewing and the lower hindwing. Each segment has a pair of legs.

The upper wings called the forewings and the lower wings called the hindwings are both very fragile. Veins give the wings structure strength and support. Butterfly wing anatomy butterfly wings are composed mainly of thin layers of a protein called chitin the same protein in the exoskeletons and hard shells of insects and arthropods.

There are frequently ultraviolet patterns in the wings that we cannot see but which might be seen by other butterflies. Today you should try and establish any specifics of the skeletal structure in the wings. They are attached to the second and third thoracic segments the meso and meta thorax.

Butterfly Anatomy Wings