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Journal article
Elucidating nanostructural organization and photonic properties of butterfly wing scales using hyperspectral microscopy
Journal of the Royal Society Interface, Vol.21(218), 20240185
2024
Abstract
Biophotonic nanostructures in butterfly wing scales remain fascinating examples of biological functional materials, with intriguing open questions with regard to formation and evolutionary function. One particularly interesting butterfly species, Erora opisena (Lycaenidae: Theclinae), develops wing scales that contain three-dimensional photonic crystals that closely resemble a single gyroid geometry. Unlike most other gyroid-forming butterflies, E. opisena develops discrete gyroid crystallites with a pronounced size gradient hinting at a developmental sequence frozen in time. Here, we present a novel application of a hyperspectral (wavelength-resolved) microscopy technique to investigate the ultrastructural organization of these gyroid crystallites in dry, adult wing scales. We show that reflectance corresponds to crystallite size, where larger crystallites reflect green wavelengths more intensely; this relationship could be used to infer size from the optical signal. We further successfully resolve the red-shifted reflectance signal from wing scales immersed in refractive index liquids with varying refractive index, including values similar to water or cytosol. Such photonic crystals with lower refractive index contrast may be similar to the hypothesized nanostructural forms in the developing butterfly scales. The ability to resolve these fainter signals hints at the potential of this facile light microscopy method for in vivo analysis of nanostructure formation in developing butterflies.
Details
- Title
- Elucidating nanostructural organization and photonic properties of butterfly wing scales using hyperspectral microscopy
- Authors/Creators
- Anna-Lee Jessop - Murdoch UniversityPrimož Pirih - University of SalzburgLimin Wang - University of SalzburgNipam H. Patel - Marine Biological LaboratoryPeta L. Clode - The University of Western AustraliaGerd E. Schröder-TurkBodo D. Wilts - University of Salzburg
- Publication Details
- Journal of the Royal Society Interface, Vol.21(218), 20240185
- Publisher
- The Royal Society
- Grant note
- Human Frontier Science Program; ; (http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000854) Australian Research Council; ; (http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000923)
- Identifiers
- 991005704930207891
- Copyright
- © 2024 The Authors.
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Mathematics, Statistics, Chemistry and Physics
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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