Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Symmetrical Butterfly Wings 
Name: Lewis
Status: N/A
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
Why are butterflies wings symmetrical?

Replies:
Lewis,

My question to you is what kind of symmetry are you referring to? If I understand your question correctly, are you referring to the left wing being a mirror image of the right? If that is your question, then the answer is that if the wings were not symmetrical, the butterfly would have a difficult time flying, since the wing on one side would have different lift and drag characteristics than the wing on the other side. Hopefully I have not missed your point!

Regards,

Bob Wilson.

Click here to return to the Zoology Archives

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory