The colour of the spur is usually the same as the corolla lips, only a bit more pale. The differences I described above are too variable and unreliable for the job. A scale is a small leaflike structure found on many plants, like the triangular growths on a stalk of asparagus. Many Utricularia species have scales, and by Taylor's definition are always found on the peduncle somewhere between the ground and the lowermost flower. Both U. delicatula and U. lateriflora normally bear scales.
Bracts look much like scales, but bracts occur wherever a flower's pedicel attaches to the peduncle.
Stated another way, flower buds are produced in the bract axil. Sometimes a flower bud does not continue its growth beyond very early stages. When this happens the dormant or aborted flower bud may be so small it remains hidden by the bract, and you may mistake its bract for a scale. But remember, scales never occur on a Utricularia inflorescence above the lowermost flower. Bracteoles are usually narrower than bracts but are otherwise similar.