| Butterflies
use their wings to fly, to hide, and to bask in the sun. The scales
on the wings let the butterflies shed moisture, so the wings aren't
too heavy for flight. The orange color of monarch wings warns predators
that monarchs are poisonous.
These
are just a few of the many ways to look at butterfly wings. You
can make observations like these yourself.
Try
This: Go Wing-watching!
Here are questions you can can ask when looking carefully
at a butterfly's wings:
- Is
the butterfly young or old?
- Is
it a male or female?
- Has
it had a narrow escape from a predator?
- Was
it well fed as a young caterpillar? (Wings don't grow after a
butterfly emerges, so size reflects diet as caterpillar.)
Also
Try...
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