While web surfing, I recently stumbled across jewelry that’s made with beetle wings – yes, actual wings from actual beetles. I am wondering whether the iridescent colors would fade over time, or whether the wings would crumble into dust.
This Thai web site says
Has anyone here actually had such a thing?
The Google Ads say–
Somebody does like this idea, possibly OG.
ratatoskK, that link is bad. Pity, I’d love to see jewellery like that.
I dunno about the durability of the colors, but I DO know that some insects can live 1-2 years, and they’re beating and flapping their wings all the time, twigs scratch them, etc. So they must be pretty strong. Butterfly wings become a little faded, but that’s because they covered with a powdery substance. Dragonfly wings stay pretty. Just look at any insect-collection that’s older then 15 years.
I once made a pair of earrrings with fish scales that I found on the beach. The material resembled thin cut fingernails, with a silvery pearl finish. They’ve stayed pretty for over a year. (in fact, fish scales must have been used as sequins on constumes before the 19’th century)
Here’s a picture of a specimen at Harvard, collected in 1857. It still looks pretty good! And here is one from 1903. Here’s the list of all their images. The beetles are under Coleoptera.