Butterflies and Moths

Scale shower

The moment a butterfly or moth flaps

its wings, the scales start to fall off,

like a shower of dust. As the insect

gets older, it begins to lose its lovely

colors and patterns that protect it.

Four eyes

Many butterflies and moths send signals

with their wings. The four big, round

marks on the peacock butterfly’s wings

are false eyes that scare birds and

lizards away. The bright patterns

and false eyes are made

up of thousands of scales

on the wing.

The false eye is made up

of circles of different

colored scales.

If you look at the

wing close up, it is

easy to see the rows

of overlapping scales.

The colored scales

fade in sunlight, so by

the end of the summer this

butterfly may not look as bright.

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