Pigments and the fine structure of butterfly wing scales work together to generate a mosaic of colors and patterns that help the insect camouflage or attract mates. On July 3, in the journal Cell Reports, scientists show how it only takes a few pigment genes to modify both the color and the morphology of wing scales. The researchers used CRISPR/Cas9 to tweak wing colors of the squinting bush brown butterfly of East Africa Bicyclus anynana and found that it resulted in changes to the scales’ surface structure and rigidity, as well as color. The results show how pigmentation genes have dual roles in the formation of wing scales.