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Journal of Bionic Engineering ›› 2024, Vol. 21 ›› Issue (5): 2395-2408.doi: 10.1007/s42235-024-00560-0

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 Dynamic Color Regulation of the Lycaenid Butterfly Wing Scales

 Mingxia Sun1 · Weihao Meng2 · Haiwei Yin3 · Lingjie Fan4 · Lei Shi4 · Gregory S. Watson5 · Jolanta A. Watson5 · Jingxia Wang2 · Lei Jiang2 · Aiping Liang1,6   

  1. 1. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Conservation and Utilization of Animal Diversity, College of Life Sciences, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300387, China  2. Laboratory of Bioinspired-Smart Interface Sciences, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China  3. Shanghai Ideaoptics Corporation, Shanghai 200433, China 4. Key Laboratory of Micro & Nano Photonic Structures (MOE) and Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China  5. School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Coast Campus, Hervey Bay, QLD 4655, Australia  6. Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
  • Online:2024-09-25 Published:2024-10-11
  • Contact: Jingxia Wang;Aiping Liang E-mail: jingxiawang@mail.ipc.ac.cn; liangap@ioz.ac.cn
  • About author: Mingxia Sun1 · Weihao Meng2 · Haiwei Yin3 · Lingjie Fan4 · Lei Shi4 · Gregory S. Watson5 · Jolanta A. Watson5 · Jingxia Wang2 · Lei Jiang2 · Aiping Liang1,6

Abstract: Butterfly coloration originates from the finely structured scales grown on the underlying wing cuticle. Most researchers who study butterfly scales are focused on the static optic properties of cover scales, with few works referring to dynamic optical properties of the scales. Here, the dynamic coloration effect of the multiple scales was studied based on the measurements of varying-angle reflection and the characterization of scale flexibility in two species of Lycaenid, Plebejus argyrognomon with violet wings and Polyommatus erotides with blue wings. We explored the angle-dependent color changeability and the color-mediating efficiency of wing scales. It was found that the three main kinds of flexible scales (cover, ground and androconia scales) were asynchronously bent during wing rotation, which caused the discoloration effect. The three layers of composite scales broaden the light signal when compared to the single scale, which may be of great significance to the recognition of insects. Specifically, the androconia scales were shown to strongly contribute to the overall wing coloration. The cover scale coloration was ascribed to the coherence scattering resulted from the short-range order at intermediate spatial frequencies from the 2D Fourier power spectra. Our findings are expected to deepen the understanding of the complex characteristics of biological coloration and to provide new inspirations for the fabrication of biomimetic flexible discoloration materials.

Key words: Butterfly scale · Angle-dependent reflection · Color-mediating efficiency · Structural Color