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

• cuticular micro- and nanostructures present on the surface offer remarkable examples of structural colours in the animal kingdom. The relationship between shining (sometimes iridescent) colors and surface microstructures located on scales has been extensively studied in butterflies, especially in the Morpho

• used in the species determination [14][15]. Notwithstanding such scales are rather similar to those of butterfly wings [16], the mosquito scale nanostructures have not been deeply investigated so far regarding the structural colours they generate. Structural colours are common in insects [4] and have

• been described mainly in Lepidoptera and Coleoptera [16][17]. As far as Diptera are concerned, investigations on structural colours are scanty. The aim of the present investigation is to describe in detail the nanostructures and microstructures of the scales in the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus

A set of empirical equations describing the observed colours of metal–anodic aluminium oxide–Al nanostructures

• Cristina V. Manzano,
• Jakob J. Schwiedrzik,
• Gerhard Bürki,
• Laszlo Pethö,
• Johann Michler and
• Laetitia Philippe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 798–806, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.64

• .11.64 Abstract Structural colours have received a lot of attention regarding the reproduction of the vivid colours found in nature. In this study, metal–anodic aluminium oxide (AAO)–Al nanostructures were deposited using a two-step anodization and sputtering process to produce self-ordered anodic

• (AAO) films; anodization; structural colours; reflectance; polar coordinates; plasmonic effects; Introduction Recently, the reproduction of the vivid colours found in nature has received increasing interest [1]. These colours appear when light interacts with periodic structures. With regard to this

• [4]. In particular, metal–AAO–Al nanostructures exhibit structural colours that can find applications as wavelength absorbers [5], in RGB display devices [6], and as chemical [7] or optical sensors [8]. It is essential to develop a model that allows for the determination of the colours (RGB or Yxy