The shining world of beetles

Michel Mitov (1, 2)

1 CEMES - Centre d'élaboration de matériaux et d'études structurales
2 CEMES-NeO - Nano-Optique et Nanomatériaux pour l'optique

Many insects own a tessellated carapace with bumps, pits, indentations, stripes or spots which exhibit iridescent colors as the consequence of complex twist of chitin macromolecules. Little is known on the physical properties of these geometric variations. Many biological functions are still unknown or debated. They are related to conspecific or intra-species communication, thermoregulation, camouflage, survival, navigation. I will summarize a set of recent results on this topic. Potential applications are related to smart windows for solar energy control or wavelength-sensitive light modulators.

Mots clés: chitin; liquid crystals; insects

Domaines: Zoologie des invertébrés; Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]; Science des matériaux [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

Michel Mitov. The shining world of beetles. Insects: Friends, foes, and models, Pascale Cossart and Jules Hoffmann, Mar 2019, Paris, France. pp.250-251, ⟨10.1016/j.crvi.2019.09.005⟩. ⟨hal-02390626⟩