Finite element modeling of the radiative properties of Morpho butterfly wing scales.

With the aim of furthering the explanation of iridescence in Morpho butterflies, we developed an optical model based on the finite-element (FE) method, taking more accurately into account the exact morphology of the wing, origin of iridescence. We modeled the photonic structure of a basal scale of the Morpho rhetenor wing as a three-dimensional object, infinite in one direction, with a shape copied from a TEM image, and made out of a slightly absorbing dielectric material. Periodic boundary conditions were used in the FE method to model the wing periodic structure and perfectly matched layers permitted the free-space scattering computation.

Structural origin of the green iridescence on the chelicerae of the red-backed jumping spider, Phidippus johnsoni (Salticidae: Araneae).

The structurally coloured chelicerae of jumping spiders (Salticidae) display some of the most striking of all colours in this family, in which they predominantly occur. Remarkably, however, the source of this iridescence has not been studied. For this reason, we chose to investigate the green iridescent chelicerae of the red-backed jumping spider, Phidippus johnsoni.