What is a dorsal wing?

What is a dorsal wing?

The ventral side (underside, seen when wings are closed together) is often used for camouflage and predator avoidance, whereas the dorsal side (top side, seen when wings are open) is used for sexual signaling.

What is the dorsal side of an insect?

notum
The dorsal surface is called the tergum (or notum, to distinguish it from the abdominal terga). The two lateral regions are called the pleura (singular: pleuron), and the ventral aspect is called the sternum.

Which butterfly wing is on top?

forewings
The upper wings, called the forewings, and the lower wings, called the hindwings, are both very fragile. Although they are strong enough to support the butterfly’s body in the air, they are also flexible to enable flight.

What are the patterns on a butterfly called?

For example, many genes involved in the development of patterns that look like eyes, called eyespot patterns, have been identified. In the butterfly species Bicyclus anynana, genes called spalt and distal-less are expressed in the centers of eyespots, and, spalt is also expressed in the black ring.

How do butterflies get patterns on their wings?

The colors and patterns of butterfly and moth wings come from these layers of tiny scales. Butterflies get their colors from pigments and structures. The ordinary color comes from chemical pigments that absorb certain wavelengths of light and reflect others.

Can a butterfly see its wings?

Within about 10–12 feet, butterfly eyesight is quite good. The butterflies themselves may even have ultraviolet markings on their wings to help them identify one another and locate potential mates. Flowers, too, display ultraviolet markings that act as traffic signals to incoming pollinators like butterflies.

What is a dorsal view?

Dorsal means the upper surface of an organism. For example, the dorsal view of a butterfly would be viewing the insect from above: Insects within a reference collection are commonly mounted so that their dorsal surface is visible.

Is dorsal ventral?

On a human body, dorsal (i.e., posterior) refers to the back portion of the body, whereas ventral (i.e., anterior) refers to the front part of the body. For example, the stomach is ventral to the spinal cord, which means that the stomach is located in front of the spinal cord.

What is the anatomy of a butterfly?

ADULT BUTTERFLY ANATOMY: The adult butterfly has: (1) a three-parted body (with head, thorax and abdomen). On the head is a pair of antennae, a pair of multi-faceted compound eyes, and a proboscis. The thorax bears three pairs of legs and two pairs of wings (a pair of forewings and a pair of hindwings).

Are butterfly patterns unique?

The color patterns on the wings of butterflies are unique among animal color patterns in that the elements that make up the overall pattern are individuated. Because of this identity it is possible to recognize homologies among pattern elements and to study their evolution and diversification.

Do butterflies have the same patterns?

Butterflies have very different patterns on the upper (dorsal) and undersides (ventral) of their wings. Also, just as with people, the right and left halves of butterflies are not exactly the same.