Im reading a book called The Development and Evolution of Butterfly Wing Patterns and its been blowing my mind. I figured my friends here on B.E wouldnt mind if I share some of the wonder: The scale is one of the most complex unit-structures in Nature that grows from a single cell. The scale can produce color via pigment or structural color. There are 6 types of micro-structures that can produce color via light wave interference. In the case of these Lotus/Bramble Hairstreaks the color is created by diffraction lattice scales where the interior of the hollow scale is a very regular crystalline lattice of continuous scale material. The physical dimensions of this structure determines the frequency of light that is diffracted/emitted. The actual scales themselves may have a clear or light brown pigment. Thats just cool. And yes thats a mating pair on my knuckles. Its an energy thing. ;-)
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 21:33:20 +0000
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