A review of the diversity and evolution of photonic structures in butterflies, incorporating the work of John Huxley (The Natural History Museum, London from 1961 to 1990)

摘要

The photonic structures of butterfly wings are among the most anatomically diverse of all those inrnnature, giving rise to an unrivalled display of structural colours. These have recently become the focusrnof research by workers in a variety of disciplines, stimulated by their potential applications torntechnology (‘biomimetics’). This interest, together with the discovery of unpublished electronrnmicrographs taken by the late Dr John Huxley (Natural History Museum, London), prompted thisrnreview of butterfly photonics in general. The current work provides a synopsis of the literature to date,rncovering the diversity and evolution of these optical structures and incorporating Huxley’s work,rnwhich represents an important biomimetic and evolutionary database on its own. This review dealsrnwith butterfly photonic devices according to the parts of the butterfly scales on which they occur. Inrnthis way, the information is ripe for evolutionary study.