A butterfly gets its color from its loose, powdery scales. In fact, the name Lepidoptera comes from the Greek for “scaly wings.” If you rub the scales off, the wings become transparent and membranous, like those of a fly. Some species, like the pale ones below, have naturally few scales.
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| Ithomiine Butterflies Plate 18, Vol. 2. Edward Doubleday, The Genera of Diurnal Lepidoptera. London, 1850-1852. |
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| This hand-drawn detail shows individual butterfly scales enlarged (upper) and in cross-section (lower). August Johan Rösel von Rosenhof, Die monatlich herausgegebenen Insecten-Belustigung. Nürnburg, 1746-1761. |
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