TY - JOUR
AU - Wilts, B.D.
AU - Michielsen, K.
AU - Kuipers, J.
AU - De Raedt, H.
AU - Stavenga, D.G.
TI - Brilliant camouflage: photonic crystals in the diamond weevil, Entimus imperialis
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society of London / B
VL - 279
SN - 0962-8452
CY - London
PB - The Royal Society
M1 - PreJuSER-20254
SP - 2524 - 2530
PY - 2012
N1 - We thank H. L. Leertouwer and A. J. M. Vey for collaboration and P. Vukusic for reading an early version of this manuscript. This study was financially supported by AFOSR/EOARD (grant FA8655-08-1-3012) and NCF, The Netherlands.
AB - The neotropical diamond weevil, Entimus imperialis, is marked by rows of brilliant spots on the overall black elytra. The spots are concave pits with intricate patterns of structural-coloured scales, consisting of large domains of three-dimensional photonic crystals that have a diamond-type structure. Reflectance spectra measured from individual scale domains perfectly match model spectra, calculated with anatomical data and finite-difference time-domain methods. The reflections of single domains are extremely directional (observed with a point source less than 5°), but the special arrangement of the scales in the concave pits significantly broadens the angular distribution of the reflections. The resulting virtually angle-independent green coloration of the weevil closely approximates the colour of a foliaceous background. While the close-distance colourful shininess of E. imperialis may facilitate intersexual recognition, the diffuse green reflectance of the elytra when seen at long-distance provides cryptic camouflage.
KW - Animals
KW - Beetles: chemistry
KW - Beetles: physiology
KW - Beetles: ultrastructure
KW - Behavior, Animal
KW - Computer Simulation
KW - Crystallization
KW - Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
KW - Photons
KW - Pigmentation
KW - Refractometry
KW - Wing: chemistry
KW - Wing: ultrastructure
KW - J (WoSType)
LB - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6 - pmid:22378806
C2 - pmc:PMC3350696
UR - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000304453000005
DO - DOI:10.1098/rspb.2011.2651
UR - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/20254
ER -