nubbsgalore: though butterfly wings are typically covered in thousands of shiny scales (see this pos
nubbsgalore: though butterfly wings are typically covered in thousands of shiny scales (see this post), glasswinged butterflies (native to central america) have transparent wings which absorb and reflect almost no visible light. the wings are able to do this because of the structure of their surface, which is made up of a seemingly random distribution of nanostructures of varying heights separated by varying distances.the wings, which are also water repellent and self cleaning, keep the butterflies safe from predators by helping to camouflage them and by suppressing infrared and ultraviolet light. photos by david fingerhut, ekaterina koritskaya, traveller40, farrukh x, mostardis photography -- source link