I found a butterfly in my house last week. I have no idea how it got into my house, but it had gotten trapped under a piece of furniture and dried out. I decided to dedicate it to science by looking at its wings under my Foldscope 2.0! Read on to find out what I saw!

Butterfly Scales

Butterfly wings are covered with thousands of scales. The scales are made of thin colorless proteins called chitin. Even though the butterfly wing appears orange, the scales have no color to them as seen under a Foldscope with a lightbox for illumination.

Light and Color

The colors and patterns we see on butterfly wings are caused by light reflecting off of the chitin ridges. Switching to the 2.0 LED light module from the lightbox changes how the light waves hit the scales. The angle at which the LED light hits the chitin ridges causes the light to reflect in a manner that produces an orange hue.

Dark Field Lighting

Sliding the 2.0 LED light module to the side creates dark field viewing with the Foldscope. This further changes the angle that the light waves hit the scales and adds an iridescent quality to them. There are even more colors that pop out of the image against the black background.

Reflective Lighting

The last setting I tried with the butterfly wing scales was reflective lighting. I used a slide covered with a large clump of scales that had fallen off of the wind and body of the butterfly. Reflective lighting with the 2.0 LED light module gives the scales an opaque, three dimensional quality. At 50X magnification, the scales look like a pile of sticks stacked up on the slide.

Have you looked at butterfly wing scales under a Foldscope 2.0? Use your Foldscope and light module to dive into the microscopic world and find the hidden colors that are there waiting for you. Share your microscopic images and thoughts on the Microcosmos. Be sure to tag us on social media when you post the results of your explorations, creations, and discoveries! We love to see how Foldscopers around the world are using their Foldscopes in new and innovative ways!

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Sources:

https://pasquesi.com/fun-facts-about-butterflies/ 

https://www.lewisginter.org/pixie-dust-butterfly-scales/