sinobug:White Scarab Beetle (Cyphochilus insulanus, Melolonthinae)Cyphochilus is a genus of beetle w
sinobug:White Scarab Beetle (Cyphochilus insulanus, Melolonthinae)Cyphochilus is a genus of beetle with an unusually bright white body, occurring in Southeast Asia. The whiteness of its body is caused by a thin layer of a highly reflective natural photonic solid in its scales and has nothing to do with pigment. The secret is in the size of the filaments of which the scales are made and the spacing between the filaments. This structure scatters light in an unusually efficient manner. Unlike colours, which can be created by using highly ordered structures to scatter light, white is created by a random, simultaneous scattering of light. It is believed that the beetle’s whiteness has evolved to mimic local white fungi as a form of camouflage while it feeds on sugar cane but science’s recent interest in this genus of beetles centres around how the secret of its colour can benefit humans. In the future, the paper we write on, the colour of our teeth and even the efficiency of the rapidly emerging new generation of white light sources like LEDs will be significantly improved if technology can take and apply the design ideas we learn from these beetles. This individual is also host to an entourage of orange immature mites. (Newly hatched larval stages of mites are six-legged. Later nymphal stages, and of course the adults, have eight legs.)by Sinobug (itchydogimages) on Flickr.Pu’er, Yunnan, ChinaSee more Chinese beetles on my Flickr site HERE….. -- source link