Monarch Wing Scales up Close * Danaus plexippus * Macro Image
Finding the beauty around us
Orange Scales and Black Veins of a Monarch Wing, Macro Image
Composite image stack focused - Cropped image 4711 x 3851
Your eyes can fool you, what looks like a field of color turns out to be orange scales attached in tidy rows to a black wing. When a monarch first emerges all of the scales are in neatly in place but with time comes wear and tear. The process of battering their way into flowers where the pollen and nectar lie are damaging. So is the process of competing for a mate. A few scales are missing but this is a relatively fresh wing. The age of a monarch can be described by the level of damage to the wings. There are some pollen grains stuck to this wing. The wing is not a flat plane, the veins stick up like prominent ridges.
Black and White Scales of a Monarch Wing, Macro Image
Composite image stack focused - Cropped image 4850 x 4344
Monarch scales vary in both size and shape. Near the base of the wing there are both black and white markings. In this area the scale pattern is not nearly as exact as the eye sees. Some white scales sneak into the black area and some black scales can be found a row or two into the white. In the area of the white scales there are pale orange scales underneath the white. These orange scales are wider and thicker than the upper white scales.
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Photographs by Martin Fletcher