166 



THE INSECT WORLD. 



Deschamps has closely studied them. According to this naturalist, 

 they are composed of three membranes, or plates, superposed one on 

 the other, of which the first is covered with granulations of a rounded 

 form, which give to these scales their splendid and varied colours ; 

 the second plate is covered with silk, forming sometimes curious 

 designs ; the third plate, viz., that which is applied to the membrane 

 of the wing, has the peculiar property of reflecting colours the most 

 brilliant and the most varied, although the surface of the scales 

 visible to the eye is often dull and colourless. 



" Supposing," says M. Bernard Deschamps, " that a painter was 



possessed of colours rich 

 enough to represent on can- 

 vas with all their splendour, 

 gold, silver, the opal, the 

 ruby, the sapphire, the eme- 

 rald, and the other precious 

 stones which the East pro- 

 duces, that with these colours 

 he formed all the shades 

 which could result from their 

 combination, one might af- 

 firm without the chance of 

 contradiction, that he would 

 have, none of these colours 

 and of their various shades, 



Fig. ^--Portion .of^the ng^gjh (Saturnia ^^^ ^^ be ^ num . 



ber, which could not be 



discovered by the microscope on part of the scales of the Lepidoptera, 

 which Nature has been pleased to conceal from our gaze." 



Each of these scales adheres to the membrane of the wing by a 

 small tube, which is solidly fixed to it. Reaumur has called our 

 attention to the admirable arrangement of these scales, which are 

 disposed like those of fish, that is to say, in such a manner that those 

 of a row shall partially overlap those in the following one. 



In Fig. 134, representing a portion of the wing of the Saturnia 

 pavonia major, magnified, which we borrow from Reaumur's Memoir, 

 the scales are arranged in rows ; isolated scales, and the points 

 where other scales were fixed before they were taken off, are repre- 

 sented. 



The membranous frame which supports the coloured scales of 

 butterflies and moths is well worth a moment's consideration. It 

 consists of two membranes intimately united by their interior surfaces, 



