Structure and pigment make the eyed elater's eyespots black

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorWong, Victoria L.en
dc.contributor.authorMarek, Paul E.en
dc.date.accessioned2020-05-26T16:21:59Zen
dc.date.available2020-05-26T16:21:59Zen
dc.date.issued2020-01-13en
dc.description.abstractSurface structures that trap light leading to near complete structural absorption creates an appearance of "super black.'' Well known in the natural world from bird feathers and butterfly scales, super black has evolved independently from various anatomical structures. Due to an exceptional ability to reduce specular reflection, these biological materials have garnered interest from optical industries. Here we describe the false eyes of the eyed elater click beetle, which, while not classified as super black, still attains near complete absorption of light partly due to an array of vertically-aligned microtubules. These cone-shaped microtubules are modified hairs (setae) that are localized to eyespots on the dorsum of the beetle, and absorb 96.1% of incident light (at a 24.8 degrees collection angle) in the spectrum between 300-700 nm. Filled with melanin, the setae combine structure and pigment to generate multiple reflections and refractions causing light to travel a greater distance. This light-capturing architecture leaves little light available to receivers and the false eyes appear as deep black making them appear more conspicuous to predators.en
dc.description.notesThis work was supported by the National Science Foundation (DBI #1458045), and by Virginia Tech, Department of Entomology, College of Life Sciences, and by a USDA NIFA Hatch Project (VA-160028). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.en
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Science Foundation (DBI)National Science Foundation (NSF) [1458045]; Virginia Tech, Department of Entomology, College of Life Sciences; USDA NIFA Hatch Project [VA-160028]en
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8161en
dc.identifier.issn2167-8359en
dc.identifier.othere8161en
dc.identifier.pmid31976171en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/98550en
dc.identifier.volume8en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.rightsCC0 1.0 Universalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/en
dc.subjectSuper blacken
dc.subjectMelaninen
dc.subjectBeetleen
dc.subjectDeimaticen
dc.subjectAposematicen
dc.subjectColoren
dc.subjectSpectrumen
dc.subjectScatteringen
dc.subjectStartleen
dc.subjectEyespoten
dc.titleStructure and pigment make the eyed elater's eyespots blacken
dc.title.serialPeerJen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten
dc.type.dcmitypeStillImageen

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
peerj-8161.pdf
Size:
21.56 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download

Collections

Scholarly Works, Entomology