The Exquisite Beauty of a Common Butterfly as Viewed Through a Scanning Electron Microscope

In the first episode of their video series Microworld Unseen, educational channel The Beauty of Science takes an incredible look at the Pseudozizeeria maha (Pale Grass Blue), a rather plain butterfly found mostly in Asia. Yet under a scanning electron microscope, this common butterfly is an creature of exquisite beauty.

As a result, you probably have seen them flying around near wild flowers before, but very likely, you have paid little attention to them. Their ordinary look is the reason why we decided to take another good look at them with a SEM. One hidden feature revealed: the body of this little creature was covered with different kinds of scales everywhere you look.

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips