Butterflies and photonic chrystals

The small structures in the scanning electron microscope image of a butterfly wing scale (a) are natural photonic crystals that give the wings of some butterflies their brilliant iridescent blue colors. The structures in the second image (b) are responsible for a blue-violet iridescence. In the third image (c), the small structures are almost entirely absent, and the butterfly wing scales are a dull brown shade. New research suggests that photonic crystals keep butterfly wings cooler, as well as making them beautiful. In higher elevations where butterflies are more reliant on sunlight to keep them warm, some of the insects have evolved wing scales in which the photonic crystals have been disrupted (as in image c), improving the chances that they survive long enough to mate despite the frigid climate. <br>Source: L. P. Biro et al., Physical Review E, February 2003 <br> <br> <br>

In recent years, scientists have discovered that the iridescence of various colorful creatures, from beetles to birds to butterflies, is often due to microscopic structures known as photonic crystals. Unlike pigments, which absorb or reflect certain frequencies of light as a result of their chemical composition, the way that photonic crystals reflect light is a function of their physical structure. That is, a material containing a periodic array of holes or bumps of a certain size may reflect blue light, for example, and absorb other colors even though the crystal material itself is entirely colorless. Because a crystal array looks slightly different from different angles (unlike pigments, which are the same from any angle), photonic crystals can lead to shifting shades of iridescent color that may help some animals attract mates or establish territories.

A collaboration of researchers from Hungary and Belgium (Jean-Pol Vigneron, Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix, Brussels, jean-pol.vigneron@fundp.ac.be, 011+32-81 724711) may have discovered why the males in certain populations of lycaenid butterflies carry the striking, photonic crystal coloration, and males in other lycaenid populations do not. The researchers examined butterfly scales through high-resolution scanning electron microscopes (see image), and confirmed that indeed the colorful butterflies’ scales included arrays of submicron-sized holes that formed natural photonic crystals. Their closely related brethren from higher elevations did not have the hole arrays in their scales, and their wings were dull brown rather than iridescent blue. The difference, it seems, may be due to a question of survival. The researchers found that the plain brown butterfly wings warmed much more than the iridescent blue wings when each were exposed to identical illumination. The researchers believe that the butterflies at high elevations trade flashy iridescence for light-absorbing brown so that they can withstand colder temperatures, and survive long enough to mate.

If photonic crystals can have such a dramatic impact on butterfly thermal management, suggest the researchers, manmade photonic crystals may someday provide flexible thermal protection in extreme environments, possibly being incorporated into such things as space suits or desert garments. (L. P. Biro et al, Physical Review E, February 2003; text www.aip.org/physnews/select )

Media Contact

Phil Shewe Bulletin of Physics News

All latest news from the category: Physics and Astronomy

This area deals with the fundamental laws and building blocks of nature and how they interact, the properties and the behavior of matter, and research into space and time and their structures.

innovations-report provides in-depth reports and articles on subjects such as astrophysics, laser technologies, nuclear, quantum, particle and solid-state physics, nanotechnologies, planetary research and findings (Mars, Venus) and developments related to the Hubble Telescope.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors