The origin of black and white coloration of the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae)

• Manuela Rebora,
• Gianandrea Salerno,
• Silvana Piersanti,
• Alexander Kovalev and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 496–508, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.41

• appearance. The results suggest that mosquito scales, in addition to their superhydrophobic function, produce structural white. The biological role of white and black patches in mate recognition and defensive behaviour in the mosquitoes of the genus Aedes is hypothesized. Keywords: biological optics