Microscale Radiative Effects in Complex Microstructures of Iridescent Butterfly Wing Scales

1997 ◽  
Vol 489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haruna Tada ◽  
Seth E. Mann ◽  
Ioannis N. Miaoulis ◽  
Peter Y. Wong
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Numerical Modeling ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Butterfly Wing ◽  
Radiative Effects ◽  
Cellular Microstructure ◽  
Cellular Development ◽  
Optical Phenomena ◽  
Thin Film Interference ◽  
Wing Scales

AbstractThe cellular microstructure of insect scales can be detailed intricately with threedimensional structures and multiple thin-film layers. In butterflies, iridescent scales can reflect bright colors through thin-film interference and other optical phenomena; the balance of radiation is absorbed for thermoregulatory purposes. Results of numerical and experimental investigations into the function, properties, and structure of these scales are presented. Of particular interest are the numerical modeling of the microscale radiative effects in the scales, determining the optical properties of the biological material, and the cellular development of thin-film structures.

The coloration of Papilio zalmoxis and P. antimachus , and the discovery of Tyndall blue in butterflies

1976 ◽  
Vol 193 (1113) ◽  
pp. 441-453 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Fluorescent Pigment ◽  
Colour Changes ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Thin Film Interference ◽  
First Time ◽  
Scanning Electron ◽  
Wing Scales

The ultrastructure and colour of the wing scales of Papilio zalmoxis were studied by means of scanning electron microscopy and spectrophotometry. The colour of the blue scales was found to be mainly of structural origin, due in part to Tyndall scattering by a layer of air-filled alveoli and in part to thin film interference in a basement lamella. A white, fluorescent pigment, probably composed mainly of kynurenine, lines the alveoli, and contributes to the colour principally by virtue of its absorption of ultraviolet radiation. Males and females possess these blue scales, but the overall colour they produce in the wing depends on the distribution of underlying black scales, and this differs between the sexes. The female of this species is figured in colour for the first time. The apparent polymorphism of preserved males was examined and it is concluded, with some reservations regarding the brown form, to be due to post-mortem colour changes. The nature of the coloration and the sexual dimorphism of P. antimachus are described. The sexual dimorphism of both species is discussed.

scholarly journals Classical lepidopteran wing scale colouration in the giant butterfly-moth Paysandisia archon

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e4590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doekele G. Stavenga ◽  
Hein L. Leertouwer ◽  
Andrej Meglič ◽  
Kazimir Drašlar ◽  
Martin F. Wehling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Light And Electron Microscopy ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Wing Colour ◽  
White Spots ◽  
Wing Scale ◽  
Thin Film Interference ◽  
Scale Types ◽  
Wing Scales

The palm borer moth Paysandisia archon (Castniidae; giant butterfly-moths) has brown dorsal forewings and strikingly orange-coloured dorsal hindwings with white spots surrounded by black margins. Here, we have studied the structure and pigments of the wing scales in the various coloured wing areas, applying light and electron microscopy and (micro)spectrophotometry, and we analysed the spatial reflection properties with imaging scatterometry. The scales in the white spots are unpigmented, those in the black and brown wing areas contain various amounts of melanin, and the orange wing scales contain a blue-absorbing ommochrome pigment. In all scale types, the upper lamina acts as a diffuser and the lower lamina as a thin film interference reflector, with thickness of about 200 nm. Scale stacking plays an important role in creating the strong visual signals: the colour of the white eyespots is created by stacks of unpigmented blue scales, while the orange wing colour is strongly intensified by stacking the orange scales.

The morphology of moth and butterfly wing scales which exhibit reflective diffraction phenomena

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 1010-1011
Author(s):  
M.E. Lee ◽  
E.O. de Neijs
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Diffraction Grating ◽  
Grating Period ◽  
Butterfly Wing ◽  
First Order ◽  
Transmission Grating ◽  
Order Diffraction ◽  
Layer Structures ◽  
Optical Effects ◽  
Wing Scales

The butterfly and moth families illustrate how nature has used diffractive micro-relief structures to achieve unique optical effects. Whereas the majority of insects use pigments (absorption) or occasionally thin film multi-layer structures (interference) to create colour, the wings of many families of butterfly and moth have complex 2-D or 3-D arrangements of submicron grating structures which produce zero and higher order diffraction conditions.The special properties of a diffraction grating can be understood by light incident perpendicularly on a transmission grating. The light is diffracted into a number of grating orders at angles θn given by the grating equation sin θn = n λ/d where λ is the wavelength of the light, n = 0, ± 1, --- and d is the grating period. The same conditions are valid for reflective diffraction structures. If the grating period is finer than the wavelength ie. d < λ, no first order diffraction exists for normal illumination.

Optical phenomena in thin-film waveguides

1974 ◽  
Vol 112 (2) ◽  
pp. 231 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.M. Zolotov ◽  
V.A. Kiselev ◽  
V.A. Sychugov
Keyword(s):  
Thin Film ◽  
Optical Phenomena ◽  
Thin Film Waveguides

A High-Transmission, Multiple Antireflective Surface Inspired from Bilayer 3D Ultrafine Hierarchical Structures in Butterfly Wing Scales

Small ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 713-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiwu Han ◽  
Zhengzhi Mu ◽  
Bo Li ◽  
Shichao Niu ◽  
Junqiu Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hierarchical Structures ◽  
Butterfly Wing ◽  
High Transmission ◽  
Wing Scales

scholarly journals Antireflective Surfaces: A High-Transmission, Multiple Antireflective Surface Inspired from Bilayer 3D Ultrafine Hierarchical Structures in Butterfly Wing Scales (Small 6/2016)

Small ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 689-689
Author(s):  
Zhiwu Han ◽  
Zhengzhi Mu ◽  
Bo Li ◽  
Shichao Niu ◽  
Junqiu Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hierarchical Structures ◽  
Butterfly Wing ◽  
High Transmission ◽  
Wing Scales
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