Fossils hint at the evolutionary origins of insects’ structural colors

April 15, 2020

Researchers from Yale-NUS College in Singapore and University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland have analysed preserved scales from wing cases of two fossil weevils from the Late Pleistocene era (approx. 13,000 years ago) to better understand the origin of light-scattering nanostructures present in present-day insects.

The researchers, led by Yale-NUS Assistant Professor of Science (Life Sciences) Vinod Kumar Saranathan and UCC paleobiologists Drs Luke McDonald and Maria McNamara, found that the wing cases of the fossil weevils contained preserved photonic ‘diamonds’, one of the many types of crystal like nanoscopic structure that interacts with light to produce some of the brightest and purest colours in nature.

The outer coverings of many insects comprise repeating units arranged in a crystalline formation that interact with visible light to produce structural colours, which typically have a metallic, iridescent appearance.

For many of these insects, the iridescent colours perform a variety of functions including camouflage, signalling potential mates, and warning off predators. To date, the evolutionary history of these complex tissue structures has not been clearly defined.

Source: https://www.heritagedaily.com/2020/04/fossil-record-analysis-hints-at-evolutionary-origins-of-insects-structural-colors/127599