August-September 2024 • Nebraskaland 21
of, and be attached to, the bird's wing bones. These stout
feathers are fi lled with pulp as they grow. When the pulp
recedes back into the bone, it leaves the hollow, quill-like
feather, long used by humans as writing instruments.
Wing Scales
Lepidoptera, the taxonomic order that makes up butterfl ies
and moths, means "scale wings" in Latin. While the
surfaces of butterfl ies and moths' wings look smooth and
uninterrupted to the human eye, it is actually adorned in
thousands of colored, microscopic scales. The entire wing is
also veined with delicate, air-fi lled structures that provide
support and strength. When we take a closer look, these
delicate structures are easily rubbed off and give these
winged insects their brilliant colors and patterns. Anyone
who has caught a butterfl y and come away with fi ne, dust-
like particles on their hands has experienced this personally.
Physically, the scales are made of overlapping pieces
of chitin — a strong natural biopolymer — layered on top
of two thin membranes that create the wing, fed by even
smaller veins. Together, they make brilliant patterns of spots,
stripes, swirls and colorful blocking — making some wings
real runway showstoppers and others, more demure and
camoufl aged.
But scales are not just a fl ashy accessory. These shingle-
The fragile, overlapping scales on the wing of a black swallowtail butterfl y under a microscope. The delicate veining in the
bottom left corner carries air for structural support of the wing, not blood as with other types of veins.
