Structure of butterfly scales: Patterning in an insect cuticle
- 1 April 1994
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Microscopy Research and Technique
- Vol. 27 (5) , 429-438
- https://doi.org/10.1002/jemt.1070270509
Abstract
All butterfly and moth scales and bristles are made of non‐living insect cuticle. Each is the product of a single epithelial cell, and all share the same basic architecture. However, some are highly specialized, and their cuticle is further elaborated into stacks of thin‐films, lattices, or other minute structures, many of which first came to our attention because they interact, with light to produce structural colors. The scale cell forms the scale by extruding a projection of itself and secreting around it the outer epicuticle, a thin cuticular envelope which will form the outermost layer of the scale. The inner layers of cuticle, collectively called the procuticle, are secreted thereafter and go on to form the lattices, pillars, or other internal structures of the scale. We believe that the pattern‐forming mechanisms used by the cell to shape the cuticle into its finished form include elastic buckling of the outer epicuticle to produce external folds, and “masking” of certain areas of the original epicuticular envelope to produce thin spots which will break through to become windows. Varied though they be, all insect cuticular patterns have common basic elements, which suggests that our findings may be generalized to other highly patterned insect cuticles, particularly those formed by single cells.Keywords
This publication has 24 references indexed in Scilit:
- Light and color on the wing: structural colors in butterflies and mothsApplied Optics, 1991
- Structure and development of iridescent butterfly scales: Lattices and laminaeJournal of Morphology, 1989
- Structure and Development of Iridescent Lepidopteran Scales: the Papilionidae as a Showcase FamilyAnnals of the Entomological Society of America, 1985
- Structure of Iridescent Lepidopteran Scales: Variations on Several Themes1Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 1984
- Permeable sites in the firefly lantern tracheal system: Use of osmium tetroxide vapor as a tracerJournal of Morphology, 1983
- Reinforced tracheoles in three firefly lanterns: Further reflections on specialized tracheolesJournal of Morphology, 1978
- Fine structure of the tracheoles of the lantern of a photurid fireflyJournal of Morphology, 1977
- Development of butterfly scales. II. Struts, lattices and surface tensionJournal of Morphology, 1976
- Biology of the Arthropod CuticlePublished by Springer Nature ,1975
- Development of ultraviolet‐reflecting butterfly scales: How to make an interference filterJournal of Morphology, 1974