Wing scale from a Sphinx Moth from Panama

Jan 15, 2015 • 10:48 PM UTC

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140x Magnification

Microorganisms

Manu Prakash

I am a faculty at Stanford and run the Prakash Lab at Department of Bioengineering at Stanford University. Foldscope community is at the heart of our Frugal Science movement - and I can not tell you how proud I am of this community and grassroots movement. Find our work here: http://prakashlab.stanford.edu

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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