ArticleCurrent biology : CB2020
Iridescence as Camouflage.
Article in Current biology : CB, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed.
- Ridge and crossrib height of butterfly wing scales is a toolbox for structural color diversity.iScience · 2026Article
- Self-assembled metabolite-derived amyloid-like structures: implications for disease, therapeutics, and biomedical applications.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- Estimated predator composition using environmental DNA analyses and color patterns of male guppies in introduced rivers.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Convergent iridescence and divergent chemical signals in sympatric sister-species of Amazonian butterflies.eLife · 2025Article
- Functional and evolutionary synergy of trait components can explain the existence of leaf masquerade in katydids.PLoS biology · 2025Article
- Multilayer thin-film produces recurrent evolution of iridescence in mammals.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
- A new fossil plesiomorphic flat bug (Aradidae) suggests widespread flower visiting in Heteroptera during the Mesozoic.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Structural background of intraspecific color polymorphism and the driver of geographic patterns in a shining leaf chafer.Frontiers in zoology · 2025Article
- Spectral fingerprint of laser emission from rhodamine 6g infused male Indian Peafowl tail feathers.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Hyperspectral imaging in animal coloration research: A user-friendly pipeline for image generation, analysis, and integration with 3D modeling.PLoS biology · 2024Article
- Polarization and reflectance are linked to climate, size and mechanistic constraints in a group of scarab beetles.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Analysing biological colour patterns from digital images: An introduction to the current toolbox.Ecology and evolution · 2024Review
- Color polymorphism and mating trends in a population of the alpine leaf beetle Oreina gloriosa.PloS one · 2024Article
- Adapting genetic algorithms for artificial evolution of visual patterns under selection from wild predators.PloS one · 2024Article
- The Plant Leaf: A Biomimetic Resource for Multifunctional and Economic Design.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Light diffraction by sarcomeres produces iridescence in transmission in the transparent ghost catfish.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Testing bird-driven diurnal trade-offs of the moon moth's anti-bat tail.Biology letters · 2023Article
- All camouflage strategies are not equal.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Female birds disguised as males get extra food.Nature · 2022Article
- The genetic basis of structural colour variation in mimeticPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Iridescence is a striking and taxonomically widespread form of animal coloration [1], but that its intense and varying hues could function as concealment [2] rather than signaling seems completely counterintuitive. Here, we show that the color changeability of biological iridescence, produced by multilayer cuticle reflectors in jewel beetle (Sternocera aequisignata) wing cases, provides effective protection against predation by birds. Importantly, we also show that the most likely mechanism to explain this increase in survival is camouflage and not some other protective function, such as aposematism. In two field experiments using wild birds and humans, we measured both the "survival" and direct detectability of iridescent and non-iridescent beetle models and demonstrated that the iridescent treatment fared best in both experiments. We also show that an increased level of specular reflection (gloss) of the leaf background leads to an increase in the survival of all targets and, for detectability by humans, enhances the camouflage effect of iridescence. The latter suggests that some prey, particularly iridescent ones, can increase their chance of survival against visually hunting predators even further by choosing glossier backgrounds. Our study is the first to present direct empirical evidence that biological iridescence can work as a form of camouflage, providing an adaptive explanation for its taxonomically widespread occurrence. VIDEO ABSTRACT.
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