I was eating dinner in an urban restaurant in Panama City, when I noticed a bat sized object right next to my chair. I looked closely, and it was a very very large dead moth. I was sad that I found this guy dead; but again I was very glad (and a little over excited) to have seen the latest moth in my life. This was a very large moth.

What was spectacular was the proboscis (tongue). It rolled up in a really tight spiral – just a perfect geometrical object.

But this post is about the wing scales of the moth ( I will post proboscis data later).

Anyone who has caught a butterfly or moth by hand knows, they leave a Powder like substance on your hand. If you look carefully; they leave a replica of the pattern that was on the wing.

Methods:
1. I took a single sided tape and applied it to the moth wing and peeled it gently.
2. I imaged this tape in my foldscope 140x.

Observation ;
It’s beautiful to realize that wing patterns and designs on butterflies and moths are digital. The scales are beautiful and individually organized in many colors (one scale – one color) and hence digital.

I was surprised to know that a single insect can have multiple size of scales. This is evident in some pictures here.

I also noticed linear patterns on the scales itself. I was wondering what role they might play. Do they make the wing less wetting and this effectively waterproof?

Enjoy the pictures.

Cheers
Manu