170 THE INSECT WORLD. 
the air? Some amateurs have devoted to the purchase of certain 
butterflies large sums of money. ‘“ Diamonds,” says Réaumur on 
the subject, ‘‘ have perhaps beauties no more real than those of a 
butterfly’s wings; but they have a beauty which is more acknow- 
ledged by the world in general, and which is more recognised in 
commerce.” The essential and distinctive character of butterflies 
and moths makes them very easily recognisable among all other 
insects. All have four wings, and these wings differ from those 
of other insects, in that they are covered with scales, which 
communicate to them the brilliant colours with which they are 
decorated. It is these scales which adhere to the fingers when 
we seize one of these charming creatures. 
For a long time this dust was thought to be formed of very 
small feathers, but Réaumur showed that it is composed of little 
VovuoOVU Dwwwy 


Fig. 133.—Different forms of the scales of Butterflies, after Réaumur. 
scales. Their form varies singularly, as we may see in Fig. 133, 
borrowed from the memoirs of Réaumur,* which represents the 
different forms of the scales which cover the wings of Lepidoptera. 
M. Bernard 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 
eranulations of a rounded form, which give to these scales their 
splendid and varied colours; the second plate is covered with silk, 
* Tome i., planche 7, Vig. 1 a 23. 
