Serie of extreme close-up of Butterfly wings
2.5-3.5 magnification
Some time ago, I came across a close-up picture of a butterfly. I must admit, it never crossed my mind how the beautiful colours of their wings are created. Fascinated by the surprising image, I immediately thought: I want to see this with my own eyes and capture it with my camera.
The butterfly wing consist of ordered arrays of scales.
There are two ways by which colours are created. Some colours are "just" created by pigments on the scales. But this is not always the case. The colour blue for example arises from sophisticated microstructures on the scales. You cannot see them with a normal microscope, but you need special electron microscopy methods to see the detailed structures of the scales.
Some of these colour differences are hardly visible for us and are only visible for the butterflies. For example, male and female butterflies sometimes differ in scale morphology. In this way, they can recognize a potential mate from a distance.
There are hardly any blue pigments in nature and the colour blue is created by the microstructures on scales of the wings of the butterfly. Such colours are therefore called "structural colours".
This has actually led to the search for techniques to make these structures ourselves. Structural colours are preferred over synthetic dyes as these can be harmful for the environment and tend to easily fade away.
Butterflies cannot directly regulate their own temperature and are depended on the sun. The darker the colour on their wings, the more sunlight can be absorbed. This gives them an advantage in colder regions; as they can warm up their body more easily. Butterflies in warmer regions often have wings with less melanin. This prevent them from overheating.
When the butterflies are older, they tend to lose colour. This can be explained easily: the scales get damaged while flying around. The butterflies photographed on these pictures are were captured more than 60 years ago! All specimen were handled and stored with great care, but storing them for such a long time can of course also affect their wings.
April, 2023
