Scale (insect anatomy) and enable the insect to escape. (Forsyth 1992:12) Thomas Eisner tested spiderwebs' effectiveness by dropping various insects onto the webs. Moths were consistently able to escape, and all left impact spots where scales had stuck to the web. Eisner found these spots to be common. (Eisner 2003:218-220) Scales also help increase the lift to drag ratio in gliding flight. Successive close-ups of the scales of a Peacock wing Scale (insect anatomy) The presence of scales on the wings of Lepidoptera, comprising moths and butterflies, characterises this order of insects. The name is derived from Ancient Greek λεπίδος (scale) and πτερόν
Scarce swallowtail the purpose of camouflage. The green pupae develop on host plants and develop directly while brown pupae enter into diapause in the leaf litter. Pupating larvae tend to form green pupae before August while after August they tend to form brown pupae. Duration of the or light period appears to be the mechanism which dictates the path of development of the pupa. The results suggest that the green pupa develop on food plants to avoid predation by small mammals and visual avian predators while the brown pupa develop on leaf litter to avoid avian predators. Scarce swallowtail The scarce swallowtail