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Scarab beetle iridescence
Article By:
Srinivasarao, Mohan School of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Center for Advanced Research on Optical Microscopy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia.
Sharma, Vivek Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Park, Jung Ok School of Materials Science and Engineering, Center for Advanced Research on Optical Microscopy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia.
Last reviewed:2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB110063
The color of various insects, such as beetles and butterflies, in the natural world has attracted the attention of scientists since at least the time of Robert Hooke (1635–1703). Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) understood that the colors that are produced must be a result of the presence of “thin film structures.” It is now commonly recognized that the colors produced by insects and perceived by an observer are a result of the microstructures that are present on their bodies. In other words, the colors are produced by the interaction of light with the periodic structures on their bodies.
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