Editing Lepidoptera (section)

=== Scales ===
[[File:Mottenflügel in Mikroskop.jpg|thumb|right|Wing scales form the color and pattern on wings. The scales shown here are lamellar. The pedicel can be seen attached to a few loose scales.]]

The wings, head, and parts of the thorax and abdomen of Lepidoptera are covered with minute scales, a feature from which the order derives its name. Most scales are [[lamella (anatomy)|lamella]]r, or blade-like, and attached with a pedicel, while other forms may be hair-like or specialized as secondary sexual characteristics.<ref name="Scoble scale">Scoble (1995). Section ''Scales'', (pp. 63–66).</ref>

The lumen or surface of the lamella has a complex structure. It gives color either by colored [[pigment]]s it contains, or through [[structural coloration]] with mechanisms that include [[photonic crystal]]s and [[diffraction grating]]s.<ref name="Vukusic (2006)">{{cite journal |last1=Vukusic |first1=P. |year=2006 |title=Structural color in Lepidoptera |journal=Current Biology |pmid=16920604 |volume=16 |issue=16 |pages=R621–3 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2006.07.040 |s2cid=52828850 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2006CBio...16.R621V }}</ref>

Scales function in insulation, thermoregulation, producing [[pheromones]] ([[androconia|in males only]]),<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hall |first1=Jason P. W. |last2=Harvey |first2=Donald J. |year=2002 |title=A survey of androconial organs in the Riodinidae (Lepidoptera) |journal=[[Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society]] |volume=136 |issue=2 |pages=171–197 |doi=10.1046/j.1096-3642.2002.00003.x |doi-access=free }}</ref> and aiding gliding flight, but the most important is the large diversity of vivid or indistinct [[patterns in nature|patterns]] they provide, which help the organism protect itself by [[camouflage]] or [[mimicry]], and which act as signals to other animals including rivals and [[sexual selection|potential mates]].<ref name="Scoble scale"/>
{{Multiple image
| direction=horizontal
| align = left
| width = 180
| header = Electron microscopy images of scales
| image1 = SEM_image_of_a_Peacock_wing%2C_slant_view_1.JPG
| caption1 = A patch of wing (×50)
| image2 = SEM_image_of_a_Peacock_wing,_slant_view_2.JPG
| caption2 = Scales close up (×200)
| image3 = SEM_image_of_a_Peacock_wing,_slant_view_3.JPG
| caption3 = A single scale (×1000)
| image4 = SEM_image_of_a_Peacock_wing,_slant_view_4.JPG
| caption4 = Microstructure of a scale (×5000)
}}{{Clear}}