The monarch butterfly is a beautiful and colorful creature, but it takes a while to reach that part of its adult life.

The wings may not match up perfectly, but they still allowed the little fellow to fly. Photo Courtesy of Romy McCloskey According to McCloskey, helping the butterfly to fly had an even deeper ...

Unlike many vibrant insects, who rely on pigment alone for their colors, a butterfly’s radiant shimmer has a special source: The precise structure and arrangement of microscopic scales on its wings.

Butterfly wings under X-ray reveal insights about color. June 13, 2016 Kim McDonald, UC San Diego. ... developed a new microscopy method to visualize the internal nanostructure of the tiny “scales” ...

The researchers found they could repeat this process at least 500 times without damaging the butterfly and precisely control how much the joint moves to get an exact color.

Butterfly wings inspire new imaging technique for cancer diagnosis Using the nanostructures found on butterfly wings, ... without the need for chemical staining or expensive imaging equipment. ...

A BUTTERFLY’S WINGS can have many jobs besides keeping the insect aloft. They may be called on to attract mates, to warn potential predators to stay away, to mimic other animals or even to ...