This photograph of a portion of the hind wing of Battus philenor, the Pipevine Swallowtail, was taken through a microscope.
The wing is covered with three-pointed elongated scales. Because the photograph covers a portion of one of the spots on the underside of the hind wing, you can see brown-orange and pale yellow scales. The dark area on the left is deep blue and the scales here don't show up in the photograph. The colors in this photograph are not as vibrant as those seen in real life because I illuminated the wing with a flashlight.
Some scales get lost during the butterfly's life and you can see gaps where scales are missing.
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