Man Fixes Broken Butterfly Wing Like A Surgical Arts & Crafts Project


A Symbol Of Hope

Many cultures have regarded the butterfly as a strong symbol for hope and beauty in nature. That sentiment rings true for one very lucky butterfly in this amazing story.

this is how to fix a broken monarch butteryfly wing
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah0SBALIc0o

Butterflies are unfortunately very fragile creatures. One patch of bad luck could result in their delicate body being broken into an unusable state. That’s what appears to have happened to the beautiful insect in this video.

This particular butterfly was lucky enough to be found by a member of the Live Monarch Foundation — an organization that is dedicated to preserving the monarch butterfly.

repair a broken butterfly wing
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah0SBALIc0o

Fixing A Broken Butterfly Wing

The man spotted the butterfly having difficulty flying and was able to recognize that the problem was his right wing. The butterfly had incurred very significant damage to the wing. It needed drastic surgical intervention in order to restore the butterfly’s normal flight capability.

Usually, if the damage of small, the broken butterfly wing can simply be clipped back to make the wings symmetrical. In this case, since the wing was so severely damaged, this would not be possible.

The man in the video had created anatomically similar wings that he could use to repair the damaged one.

First, he pins down the butterfly so that it could not move during the operation. Then he finds the exact spot where on the broken butterfly wing he’ll need to repair, and prepares for the next step.

From there, he cuts along the ridge of where the wing was broken to make a straight line. One of the artificial wings that he had created is placed on top of the old wing to see if it fits. Since his does, he uses adhesive to secure the new wing to the old wing.

The Aftermath

After allowing the glue to dry, the amazing happens. The butterflies new wing works like it was brand new.