Insect Wings

Lacewing Butterfly Beetle
     Most insects have membranous wings; such wings are very thin and like cellophane.  Many have venation, a system of thickened lines in the wings, such as the lacewing.  The wings of butterflies and moths are not membranous.  Rather they are covered with small dust-like scales.
     Flies and mosquitoes have one pair of wings.  Some insects - such as the ant and termite - are wingless.  Most insects have two pair of wings.  They can be prominent as in the lacewing and butterfly, or modified to be less obvious.  The beetle's front pair of wings provide a hard or leather-like covering that protects the back pair when they are not being used.