Structural color produced by a three-dimensional photonic polycrystal in the scales of a longhorn beetle: Pseudomyagrus waterhousei (Coleoptera: Cerambicidae)

The cuticle of the longhorn beetle Pseudomyagrus waterhousei shows a diffuse pattern of mixed blue and violet colors. These colorations arise from a dense layer of droplet-shaped scales covering the dorsal parts of the cuticle. In spite of their lack of iridescence, these colors are shown to be structural and produced by an aggregate of internally ordered photonic-crystal grains. Computer simulations confirm that the blue and violet colors are caused by face-centered-cubic crystallites which dominantly expose their (111) surface to illumination and viewing.