If you brush against the wings of a butterfly, you will likely come away with a fine sprinkling of powder. This lepidopteran dust is made up of tiny microscopic scales, hundreds of thousands of which ...

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One of the best-known poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins opens with a tribute to the phenomenon of iridescence. It’s represented by the colorful wings of kingfishers and dragonflies in Hopkins’ poem, but ...

Butterfly wings contain hundreds of thousands of tiny microscopic scales, some of which are structured to display color. If you’ve ever touched a butterfly and had some fine powder left behind on your ...

A butterfly’s beginnings are wondrous. Gently nestled in its cocoon, a caterpillar transforms into a fairylike creature with meticulously laid out, iridescent scales layered upon each wing. Piece by ...

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Cambridgeshire: It was nearly ready to fly but it was partly out of its chrysalis and partly still in it On Sunday morning, I was pottering in the garden wondering what to do. I saw a flapping coming ...

Engineers have continuously observed scales growing and assembling on a butterfly wing for the first time as the developing insect transforms inside its chrysalis. If you brush against the wings of a ...