Experimental investigation on color variation mechanisms of structural light in Papilio maackii ménétriès butterfly wings

Abstract

The body color in animals results from billions of years of their natural evolution in order to evade natural enemies, catch quarries or display themselves beauty, investigation on mechanisms of structural light is an important aspect of bionics.Based on the phenomenon of Papilio maackii ménétriès' blue scales changing into green ones immediately after dropping some alcohol aqua on the underwing surface and soon returning back to the original color, the relationship between microstructure, optics characteristic of scales and changing color effect were studied using the Olympus Stereomicroscope, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Ultraviolet (UV)-Visible Spectrophotometer. The color variation mechanisms of blue scales of Papilio maackii mé-nétriès in Chinese Northeast were revealed in this paper. When visible lights traveled through the concaver structure with multilayer reflector and the filled medium with different refractive indices, the reflected lights in definite wavelengths produced interference and color at that wavelength came into being. It has important academic reference value to biomimetics design of video stealth materials. video stealth, Papilio maackii ménétriès, color variation of structural light Animals have evolved over millions centuries to best adapt to the bad survival environment, maintaining life and continuing species, and they have different special functions for themselves. Living creatures almost have their own special colors, especially the color and pattern of butterfly wings are most flowery and mystery. The colors of some butterfly wings mainly come from the structural color of their wing scales, and the scale structure with bright gorgeous colors is very complex. The colors of butterfly differ from different living environments as a result of long-term natural selection. The scales colors are of infinite variety. Some colors come form giddy flower patterns, and others are shining colors. Those colors make the butterflies flickering in the flower

Art of blackness in butterfly wings as natural solar collector

“…7,8 Moreover, the mechanisms of structure colors on butterfly wings and replication of them have been studied. [9][10][11] With increasing attention paid to structural colors, related research on the performances of optical structures such as photonic crystals and 3D dielectric fractal structures was conducted as well. 12,13 Structure related colors like blue in Morph butterflies, green in swallowtail butterflies or bluegreen iridescence in Papilionidae butterflies have been the favorite because of their gorgeous appearance and significant underlying applications in biomimetics.…”

Progress in the bionic study on anti-adhesion and resistance reduction of terrain machines

“…self-cleaning, anti-wear, fatigue resistance, abrasive-erosion resistance, noise reduction, camouflage, etc. [32][33][34][35] . With the progress of the theoretical study and the advents of the advanced measuring techniques, our understandings of the fundamental mechanisms of the functional characteristics of biological organisms would become more in-depth and comprehensive.…”

Biological couplings: Classification and characteristic rules

“…The surface of each squama is weaved with many sub-micron ribs and ridges (as shown in Figure 3(b)), and the cross-sections of these ribs are with regular triangle shapes (as shown in Figure 3(c)). This orderly geometrical coupling allows the light with only certain wavelengths to pass through, so that the wings show a special color [17,18] .…”

“…The completely incorporated biological coupling is formed by combining the coupling elements through the chemical mode, such as the combination, amalgamation and composite. For example, the formation of hemoglobin which transports and releases oxygen in human body happens when the Fe 2+ ions are joined with the peptide chain of the protein Figure 3 Micromorphology of the squama of the butterfly wing [17] . (a) The squama of the butterfly wing; (b) the rib and ridge structure; (c) the cross-section of the rib.…”