COMPARATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF BIOPHOTONIC NANOSTRUCTURES IN BUTTERFLY WINGS

Abstract

The patterning and coloration of butterfly wings have been an exemplary research focus in the development and evolution of Lepidoptera. However, past studies are largely limited to the structuring on scale surfaces. Moreover, contemporary research focuses almost exclusively on a few model taxa in just one family of butterflies (Nymphalidae).Here, I presented a time-resolved developmental study of honeycomb lattice structures uniquely found in Papilionidae. My results discovered previously undocumented roles of F-actin and ER membrane in the morphogenesis of honeycomb lattice. I proposed that F-actin reorganizes into non-linear structures that template plasma membrane curvature into the cell. I further discovered scale surface underwent several topological stages prior to ridge formation. Using a physical model, I showed that these intermediate structures are driven by the spacing in between F-actin bundles, which gradually increases along scale growth. Finally, I investigated the development of surface windows in a pigment gene mutant of Bicyclus anynana that exhibits scale structural changes. I speculate cuticle melanization influences the rate of epicuticle sclerotization. This in turn changes the overall cuticle composition in mutant scales and resulted in a retention of cuticular layers above surface windows.