. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms;. Zoology; Birds; Reptiles; Fishes. S C A L E -WI N G E D INSECTS 311 SCALE-WINGKD INSECTS, OR i;a TTERFLl KS AXD MOTHS BY VV. K, KIRBV, , Butterflies and Mciths are easil)- distinguished from other insects b}- many \ery ob\ious characters, and a considerable number are remarkable for the beautiful and \aried colours of their wings. These are, as it were, tiled with o\'erlapping scales, attached to the membrane by a slender stem ; hence their name, Scale-winged Insects. These scales dift'er vevy much in shape, somet
. Birds of other lands, reptiles, fishes, jointed animals and lower forms;. Zoology; Birds; Reptiles; Fishes. S C A L E -WI N G E D INSECTS 311 SCALE-WINGKD INSECTS, OR i;a TTERFLl KS AXD MOTHS BY VV. K, KIRBV, , Butterflies and Mciths are easil)- distinguished from other insects b}- many \ery ob\ious characters, and a considerable number are remarkable for the beautiful and \aried colours of their wings. These are, as it were, tiled with o\'erlapping scales, attached to the membrane by a slender stem ; hence their name, Scale-winged Insects. These scales dift'er vevy much in shape, sometimes being long and slender, and almost hair-like, while at other times the)' are widened at the extremity, like a battledore, or the)' may be short and broad, like a fan or a shovel. Different forms of scales are found on different parts of the wings of the same insect; and some forms of scale are peculiar to the male, as are usuall)' the dense tufts of scales found on the fore wings of the Skipper Butterflies, and on the hind wings of the Chr)'sippus Butterfly. The varied colours of these scales arc due parti)" to pigment, interposed between the extremely delicate double or triple tissues of which the scales are composed ; or, more rarely, to the refraction of light from the surface of the scales themseh'es, or, as has recently been stated, to different coloured scales alternating so that the varying colours are visible at different angles, as in the metallic " shot" colour of the Purple Emperor Butterfl)-, and in various species found in South America and other countries. In the case of the Purple Kmperor, and in many other butterflies, this "shot" colouring is confined to the males. Indeed, as a rule, female butterflies and moths are larger than the males, but far less brillianth- coloured than their mates. There are, however, many species in which the sexes differ little in size or colour; but it onl)' rarel)' happens that the female is more bright
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecad, booksubjectfishes, booksubjectzoology
