Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Unlike many vibrant insects, who rely on pigment alone for their ...

Butterfly wings get their color in ways that almost feel impossible. Up close, each wing is made of countless tiny scales that either hold pigment or manipulate light. The oranges, reds, and browns ...

Scientists have discovered a new twist in a process that forms an intricate nanostructure responsible for the vibrant green colours of the Emerald-patched Cattleheart butterfly's wings. (Nanowerk News ...

New York City veterinarians performed a wing transplant procedure on a monarch butterfly in a video that's since gone viral The butterfly's wing was repaired at the Sweetbriar Nature Center in ...

Butterfly wings may be quite thin, but they are also durable and strong. This strength comes from the material that makes up the wings: chitin (pronounced kite-in). Chitin is a kind of building ...

Engineers have continuously observed scales growing and assembling on a butterfly wing for the first time as the developing insect transforms inside its chrysalis. If you brush against the wings of a ...

Darkness and light: four butterflies with ultra-black wings. (Courtesy: Richard Stickney/Museum of Life and Science) Many male butterflies have exceptionally black wings with optical properties that ...