Spectrally tuned structural and pigmentary coloration of birdwing butterfly wing scales.

ABSTRACT: The colourful wing patterns of butterflies play an important role for enhancing fitness; for instance, by providing camouflage, for interspecific mate recognition, or for aposematic display. Closely related butterfly species can have dramatically different wing patterns. The phenomenon is assumed to be caused by ecological processes with changing conditions, e.g. in the environment, and also by sexual selection. Here, we investigate the birdwing butterflies, Ornithoptera, the largest butterflies of the world, together forming a small genus in the butterfly family Papilionidae. The wings of these butterflies are marked by strongly coloured patches. The colours are caused by specially structured wing scales, which act as a chirped multilayer reflector, but the scales also contain papiliochro

SUBMITTER: Wilts BD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4614508 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature