LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Butterflies: Wings
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Butterflies are characterized by their scale-covered wings. The coloration of butterfly wings is created by minute scales. These scales are pigmented with melanins that give them blacks and browns, but blues, greens, reds and iridescence are usually created not by pigments but the microstructure of the scales. This structural coloration is the result of coherent scattering of light by the photonic crystal nature of the scales.[13][14][15]
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Butterflies find a mate by flying in spiraling circles around each other. Male (boy) butterflies find females (girls) by how their wings reflect light and color. People cannot see the difference, but butterflies can!
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The thorax, the middle body segment, connects the butterflies' appendages -- the six legs and four wings. The butterflies' ears, tight membranes similar to a human eardrum are ... located here. Though it cannot be seen, these membranes have hairs just under them. When a sound wave hits the membrane, the membrane vibrates and touches these hairs. When stimulated, the hairs send a message to the brain indicating the direction and distance of the sound from the individual.
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Many butterflies migrate over long distances. Particularly famous migrations being those of the Monarch butterfly from Mexico to North America, a distance of about 4,000 to 4,800 kilometres (2500-3000 miles). Other well known migratory species include the Painted Lady and several of the Danaine butterflies. Spectacular and large scale migrations associated with the Monsoons are seen in peninsular India.[34] Migrations have been studied in more recent times using wing tags and ... using stable hydrogen isotopes.[35][36]
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The smallest butterflies are certain blues that have wingspans of a mere 0.7 cm (0.25 in). The largest are the female giant birdwings of Papua New Guinea, which measure up to 30 cm (12 in) across. Moths range in size from tiny Microlepidoptera, several groups of small moths with wings no more than 0.16 cm (0.06 in) across, to giant silk moths, such as the atlas moth, which may exceed 30 cm (12 in) in wingspan.
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The butterflies in this family are from small to medium size. Their bodies are large and with relatively small wings. They are usually yellow or white in a black background colour. They fly in a very rapid and jerky style, this is why they call skippers. They are not as colourful as the other four families.
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