Development of butterfly scales. II. Struts, lattices and surface tension.

An investigation of the structure of the iridescent scales of the green hairstreak, Callophrys rubi, reveals an internal lattice which is probably cubic close-packed in form. We present a model which explains the formation of the lattice in terms of packing of spheres and surface tension forces and generalize these results to internal structures in other Lepidopteran scales.