Butterfly Wings and Structural Colour
In short: Butterfly wing coloration arises not from pigments, but from sophisticated, multilayered nanoscale structures, which scientists call photonic crystals.
A 1:13 short film in the series “Nature Invented It First”, narrated by intellect_voice_01.
Sources used in this film: Diamond Light Source, “The nanoscience of butterfly wings - - Diamond Light Source”; Nature, “Changes in structural and pigmentary colours in response to cold stress in Polyommatus icarus butterflies - Scientific Reports”; Smithsonian Magazine, “See Microscopic Butterfly Wing Scales Materialize Inside of a Chrysalis”; Advanced Photon Source, “How the Photonic Crystals in Butterfly Wings Create Color | Advanced Photon Source”; Nature Communications, “The actin cytoskeleton plays multiple roles in structural colour formation in butterfly wing scales - Nature Communications”; PMC, “Signal design and courtship presentation coincide for highly biased delivery of an iridescent butterfly mating signal”; Nature, “Polarized light as a butterfly mating signal - Nature”.
Sources used in this film
- Diamond Light Source — The nanoscience of butterfly wings - - Diamond Light Source · View →
- Nature — Changes in structural and pigmentary colours in response to cold stress in Polyommatus icarus butterflies - Scientific Reports · View →
- Smithsonian Magazine — See Microscopic Butterfly Wing Scales Materialize Inside of a Chrysalis · View →
- Advanced Photon Source — How the Photonic Crystals in Butterfly Wings Create Color | Advanced Photon Source · View →
- Nature Communications — The actin cytoskeleton plays multiple roles in structural colour formation in butterfly wing scales - Nature Communications · View →
- PMC — Signal design and courtship presentation coincide for highly biased delivery of an iridescent butterfly mating signal · View →
- Nature — Polarized light as a butterfly mating signal - Nature · View →
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Diamond Light Source: The nanoscience of butterfly wings - - Diamond Light Source
- Also: Nature: Changes in structural and pigmentary colours in response to cold stress in Polyommatus icarus butterflies - Scientific Reports
- Also: Smithsonian Magazine: See Microscopic Butterfly Wing Scales Materialize Inside of a Chrysalis
- Also: Advanced Photon Source: How the Photonic Crystals in Butterfly Wings Create Color | Advanced Photon Source
- Also: Nature Communications: The actin cytoskeleton plays multiple roles in structural colour formation in butterfly wing scales - Nature Communications
- Also: PMC: Signal design and courtship presentation coincide for highly biased delivery of an iridescent butterfly mating signal
- Also: Nature: Polarized light as a butterfly mating signal - Nature
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