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Mar
Feather Butterfly
Posted in Ribbons | No Comments »Why does ink fade, but butterfly wings or Peacock Feathers won't?
Why does ink fade, but for instance butterfly wings or peacock feathers won't?
What is the origin of the colour of the butterfly wings/ peacock feathers?
Many pigments fade in sunlight, usually because the ultraviolet part of the light causes the chemicals in the pigment to oxidise.
However, the colours in peacock feathers and butterfly wings are not created by chemical pigments, they are created by microscopic layered structures called schemochromes. The layers are spaced so as to reflect some wavelengths of light but not others. The effect is similar to the colours you see in the surface of a CD (which are caused by patterns of tiny dots).