ArticleNature communications2020
Diverse nanostructures underlie thin ultra-black scales in butterflies.
Article in Nature communications, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed.
- Genetic Control of Tissue Remodeling by a Non-Coding SNP in ITGA8 Explains Carotenoid-Based Color Polymorphism in Marine Mollusks.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Ultrablack wool textiles inspired by hierarchical avian structure.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Three-dimensional Patterning Super-Black Silica-Based Nanocomposite Aerogels.Nano-micro letters · 2025Article
- Hidden white and black feather layers enhance plumage coloration in tanagers and other songbirds.Science advances · 2025Article
- Lepidopteran scale cells derive from sensory organ precursors through a canonical lineage.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2025Article
- Infrared absorbers inspired by nature.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Review
- Nanostructural Influence on Optical and Thermal Properties of Butterfly Wing Scales Across Forest Vertical Strata.Materials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Self-Assembly of Soft and Conformable Broadband Absorbing Nanocellulose-Gold Nanoparticle Composites.ACS applied materials & interfaces · 2024Article
- Adaptive cooling strategy via human hair: High optothermal conversion efficiency of solar radiation into thermal dissipation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Ultrablack color in velvet ant cuticle.Beilstein journal of nanotechnology · 2024Article
- Wood-based superblack.Nature communications · 2023Article
- The carotenoid redshift: Physical basis and implications for visual signaling.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Supreme-black levels enabled by touchproof microcavity surface texture on anti-backscatter matrix.Science advances · 2023Article
- Influence of visual background on discrimination of signal-relevant colours in zebra finches (Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Butterfly wing architectures inspire sensor and energy applications.National science review · 2021Article
- The evolution of red color vision is linked to coordinated rhodopsin tuning in lycaenid butterflies.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Recently, it has been shown that animals such as jumping spiders, birds, and butterflies have evolved ultra-black coloration comparable to the blackest synthetic materials. Of these, certain papilionid butterflies have reflectances approaching 0.2%, resulting from a polydisperse honeycomb structure. It is unknown if other ultra-black butterflies use this mechanism. Here, we examine a phylogenetically diverse set of butterflies and demonstrate that other butterflies employ simpler nanostructures that achieve ultra-black coloration in scales thinner than synthetic alternatives. Using scanning electron microscopy, we find considerable interspecific variation in the geometry of the holes in the structures, and verify with finite-difference time-domain modeling that expanded trabeculae and ridges, found across ultra-black butterflies, reduce reflectance up to 16-fold. Our results demonstrate that butterflies produce ultra-black by creating a sparse material with high surface area to increase absorption and minimize surface reflection. We hypothesize that butterflies use ultra-black to increase the contrast of color signals.
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