Optical Cues from Jewel Beetles

A small green beetle may have some interesting lessons to teach scientists about optics and liquid crystals

A small green beetle may have some interesting lessons to teach scientists about optics and liquid crystals—complex mechanisms the insect uses to create a shell so strikingly beautiful that for centuries it was used in jewellery. In an article published in the journal Science, researchers provide a detailed analysis of how a jewel beetle (Chrysina gloriosa) creates the striking colours using a unique helical structure that reflects light of two specific colours—and of only one polarisation: left circular polarisation. The reflecting structures used by the beetle consist predominantly of three different polygonal shapes whose percentages vary with the curvature of the insect’s shell. “Iridescent beetles, butterflies, certain sea organisms and many birds derive their unique colours from the interaction of light with physical structures on their external surfaces,” says Mohan Srinivasarao, a professor in the School of Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “Understanding how these structures give rise to the stunning colours we see in nature could benefit the quest for miniature optical devices and photonics.”

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