Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of scales on the wing of a male Morpho butterfly (family: Morphidae) found in Brazil. Here, the tiny overl

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Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of scales on the wing of a male Morpho butterfly (family: Morphidae) found in Brazil. Here, the tiny overlapping scales that cover the butterfly wing are seen. The male butterfly of Morpho sp. is brightly coloured, in some species an iridescent green or blue. Layers of wing scales are transparent but refract and reflect light of different colours to different extents. This produces a shimmering appearance which is used in the males for sexual attraction. The females are coloured brown. There are about 50 species of Morpho, occurring in South America. Magnification: x90 at 35mm size.

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Size: 4865px × 3592px
Photo credit: © ALFRED PASIEKA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: aega, butterfly, electron, entomological, entomology, false-colour, false-coloured, fauna, insect, insecta, invertebrate, invertebrates, iridescence, iridescent, micrograph, microscope, morpho, nature, neotropic, neotropical, scale, scales, scanning, sem, wing, zoological, zoology