Fluidr
about   tools   help   Y   Q   a         b   n   l
User / UVO_eber / Sets / Papilio palinurus
Ulrich Vogl / 14 items

  • DESCRIPTION
  • COMMENT
  • O
  • L
  • M

Emerald swallowtail (Papilio palinurus)
Illumination: Halogen and white(!) LED (Ra>95)

Here the left and right wing have been illuminated under different angles.

Visit the album to see some colour variants of the scales!


This butterfly is a true master in structural (physical) colors. Oblique light produces blue/aquamarin, direct illumination results in a yellow reflection. Back-illumination yields red/brown. Thus, depending on illumination angle (and polarization) any mixture between yellow and blue can be obtained. In addition to the iridecent scales, there are several "normal scales" with pigment colours from brown to orange, yellow and almost white. If you are interested in the details, here is a nature article explaining this phenomenon:

Vukusic, P., Sambles, J. & Lawrence, C. Colour mixing in wing scales of a butterfly . Nature 404, 457 (2000).

Tags:   Emerald swallowtail Papilio palinurus butterfly macro extreme macro physical colours structural colours iridescence

N 13 B 515 C 0 E Jan 15, 2024 F Jan 18, 2024
  • DESCRIPTION
  • COMMENT
  • O
  • L
  • M

Emerald swallowtail (Papilio palinurus)

Mitutoyo 100x NA 0.70, tube lens: ITL200 (Nikon)

Illumination: Halogen and white(!) LED (Ra>95)

This is a collage of 8 pictures from the very same scale, but different illumination (white light, but different incident angles and different polarization angles). This leads to the brilliant iridescence of that butterfly.

Visit the album to see some colour variants of the scales!


This butterfly is a true master in structural (physical) colors. Oblique light produces blue/aquamarin, direct illumination results in a yellow reflection. Back-illumination yields red/brown. Thus, depending on illumination angle (and polarization) any mixture between yellow and blue can be obtained. In addition to the iridecent scales, there are several "normal scales" with pigment colours from brown to orange, yellow and almost white. If you are interested in the details, here is a nature article explaining this phenomenon:

Vukusic, P., Sambles, J. & Lawrence, C. Colour mixing in wing scales of a butterfly . Nature 404, 457 (2000).

Tags:   Emerald swallowtail Papilio palinurus butterfly macro extreme macro physical colours structural colours iridescence

N 23 B 812 C 1 E Jan 10, 2024 F Jan 18, 2024
  • DESCRIPTION
  • COMMENT
  • O
  • L
  • M

Emerald swallowtail (Papilio palinurus)

Mitutoyo 50xHR NA 0.75, tube lens: ITL200 (Nikon)

Illumination: Oblique and coaxial (polarized)

Visit the album to see some colour variants of the scales!


This butterfly is a true master in structural (physical) colors. Oblique light produces blue/aquamarin, direct illumination results in a yellow reflection. Back-illumination yields red/brown. Thus, depending on illumination angle (and polarization) any mixture between yellow and blue can be obtained. In addition to the iridecent scales, there are several "normal scales" with pigment colours from brown to orange, yellow and almost white. If you are interested in the details, here is a nature article explaining this phenomenon:

Vukusic, P., Sambles, J. & Lawrence, C. Colour mixing in wing scales of a butterfly . Nature 404, 457 (2000).

Tags:   Emerald swallowtail Papilio palinurus butterfly macro extreme macro physical colours structural colours iridescence

N 10 B 400 C 2 E Jan 15, 2024 F Jan 18, 2024
  • DESCRIPTION
  • COMMENT
  • O
  • L
  • M

Emerald swallowtail (Papilio palinurus)

Mitutoyo 100x NA 0.70, tube lens: ITL200 (Nikon)

Illumination: Halogen, almost crossed polarizers

Visit the album to see some colour variants of the scales!


This butterfly is a true master in structural (physical) colors. Oblique light produces blue/aquamarin, direct illumination results in a yellow reflection. Back-illumination yields red/brown. Thus, depending on illumination angle (and polarization) any mixture between yellow and blue can be obtained. In addition to the iridecent scales, there are several "normal scales" with pigment colours from brown to orange, yellow and almost white. If you are interested in the details, here is a nature article explaining this phenomenon:

Vukusic, P., Sambles, J. & Lawrence, C. Colour mixing in wing scales of a butterfly . Nature 404, 457 (2000).

Tags:   Emerald swallowtail Papilio palinurus butterfly macro extreme macro physical colours structural colours iridescence

N 9 B 383 C 0 E Jan 15, 2024 F Jan 19, 2024
  • DESCRIPTION
  • COMMENT
  • O
  • L
  • M

Emerald swallowtail (Papilio palinurus)

Mitutoyo 100x NA 0.70, tube lens: ITL200 (Nikon)

Illumination: white LED, backlight and oblique

Visit the album to see some colour variants of the scales!


This butterfly is a true master in structural (physical) colors. Oblique light produces blue/aquamarin, direct illumination results in a yellow reflection. Back-illumination yields red/brown. Thus, depending on illumination angle (and polarization) any mixture between yellow and blue can be obtained. In addition to the iridecent scales, there are several "normal scales" with pigment colours from brown to orange, yellow and almost white. If you are interested in the details, here is a nature article explaining this phenomenon:

Vukusic, P., Sambles, J. & Lawrence, C. Colour mixing in wing scales of a butterfly . Nature 404, 457 (2000).

Tags:   Emerald swallowtail Papilio palinurus butterfly macro extreme macro physical colours structural colours iridescence


35.7%