Producing colour
Most insects exhibit colours via absorption or reflection of sunlight using pigments, cuticular surface structures, or their combination. Structural colors of butterflies are created by an optical effect (such as interference, refraction, or diffraction) rather than by a pigment. They arise from the arrangement of physical structures interacting with light to produce a particular color. Structural color is responsible for the colors of the feathers of many birds, as well as certain butterfly wings and beetle shells.
