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Polarized iridescence of the tropical carpenter bee, Xylocopa latipes
The tropical carpenter bee, Xylocopa latipes, has metallic-reflecting, iridescent wings. The wing reflectance spectra for TE- and TM-polarized light depend on the angle of light incidence in a way characteristic for dielectric multilayers. Anatomy indicates the presence of melanin multilayers in the...
| Autores principales: | , , |
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| Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
| Lenguaje: | English |
| Publicado: |
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
2022
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10643292/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36385431 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00359-022-01592-9 |
| Sumario: | The tropical carpenter bee, Xylocopa latipes, has metallic-reflecting, iridescent wings. The wing reflectance spectra for TE- and TM-polarized light depend on the angle of light incidence in a way characteristic for dielectric multilayers. Anatomy indicates the presence of melanin multilayers in the wing’s chitinous matrix. A simple optical model of melanin multilayers explains the angle dependence of the wing reflectance spectra. The wing reflections that occur upon oblique illumination exhibit colourful and strongly polarized light patterns, which may mediate intraspecific signaling and mutual recognition by conspecifics. |
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