Gleaming in the air, the iridescent blue morpho protects itself from predators using the power of light. Get email updates about our news, science, exhibitions, events, products, services and fundraising activities. You must be over the age of Privacy notice. Smart cookie preferences. Change cookie preferences Accept all cookies. Skip to content. Read later. You don't have any saved articles.
Butterflies: the science behind the colour By Katie Pavid. Welcome to the kaleidoscopic world of the butterfly wing. Finding family There are more than 18, named butterfly species on the planet today, and about , different moth species. Whether this owl mimicry is intentional or not is still a contentious issue among scientists.
Scientists do not agree on exactly how eyespots help owl butterflies. Blending in Some butterflies and moths hide in plain sight, disguising themselves as leaves or twigs. Book your tickets. Related posts. Take a look at these photos and see whether millions of years of evolution will outwit you. Spotlight: the blue morpho Gleaming in the air, the iridescent blue morpho protects itself from predators using the power of light.
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They are consistently knowledgeable, on time, and overall provide excellent customer service. I appreciate the 30 minute advance call prior to a service visit immensely given our busy schedules. They will return until the issue is resolved or prophylactically as requested. I highly recommend this company. Posted on April 12th, by Knockout Pest Control. What Do the Colors and Patterns Do? Where Do the Colors Come From? Ordinary Color — This source of color is the typical way of showing color.
By: Jennifer Horton. Butterflies possess some of the most striking color displays found in nature. As they fly from flower to flower gathering nectar, their brightly colored wings seem to shimmer and change colors before your eyes. Pilots flying above the rainforest can see the bright blues of the morpho butterfly of South America up to half a mile away [source: Vukusic].
A butterfly's rich color can act as camouflage , mate attraction and warning signal. But what is it that makes the vivid colors of butterfly wings appear to dance? How can they possess such intense hues? Butterflies actually get their colors from two different sources: ordinary or pigmented color and structural color. The ordinary color comes from normal chemical pigments that absorb certain wavelengths of light and reflect others. For example, the pigment chlorophyll colors plants green.
The chlorophyll soaks up the blue and red colors of the spectrum, but not the green, which you see when it bounces back to your eye. Most butterflies get their different shades of brown and yellow from melanin, the same pigment that makes you tan in summer and gives some people freckles. The structural color of butterflies is where things get interesting.
This type of color stems from the specific structure of the butterflies' wings and explains why some of a butterfly's colors seem to shift and appear so intense. This quality of changing colors as you, the observer, moves is known as iridescence , and it occurs more in nature than you might think.
Mother of pearl seashells, fish and peacocks are just a few examples of animals with this quality, but it is most pronounced in the butterfly family. It happens when light passes through a transparent, multilayered surface and is reflected more than once. The multiple reflections compound one another and intensify colors. One of the most striking examples of color in nature is found on a small well-known member of the insect family. As fascinating as they are eye-catching, butterflies have delighted and intrigued both the casual observer and the well informed expert for years.
This is due, in part, to the intense display of color on their wings that gives off a glistening appearance as they fly. These colors come from two sources. The first are pigmented colors which are simply ordinary chemical pigments that absorb certain wavelengths of light and reflect others.
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