Swallowtail butterfly wing scales. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of scales from a swallowtail butterfly (family Papilionidae) wing. Laye

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Swallowtail butterfly wing scales. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of scales from a swallowtail butterfly (family Papilionidae) wing. Layers of wing scales are transparent but tiny ridges on the scales break up and reflect light to give the scales their shimmering iridescent appearance.

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Size: 6698px × 2609px
Photo credit: © SUSUMU NISHINAGA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -, anatomical, anatomy, animal, biological, biology, butterfly, close-, coloured, detail, entomological, entomology, false-colour, false-coloured, fauna, insect, insecta, invertebrate, iridescence, iridescent, nature, papilionidae, scale, scales, sem, swallowtail, wildlife, wing, zoological, zoology