Optical Properties of Greta oto Butterfly Wings: Relation of Iridescence with Photonic Properties

J Nanosci Nanotechnol. 2019 May 1;19(5):2833-2838. doi: 10.1166/jnn.2019.16028.

Abstract

This work presents an experimental and theoretical study about the optical properties of the wings of butterfly Greta oto. UV-Vis spectroscopy was used to obtain the optical response of the sample as function of the incident light angle. It was possible to observe a shift in the maximum of the reflectance spectra towards lower values of lambda when the angle of incident light increases. The theoretical modeling allows us to relate photonic behavior with the optical properties of the wings of butterfly Greta oto. In particular, photonic behavior could be associated with the iridescent phenomenon on the butterfly wings.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Butterflies*
  • Iridescence
  • Optics and Photonics
  • Spectrum Analysis
  • Wings, Animal