Development of ultraviolet-reflecting butterfly scales: How to make an interference filter.

Light and electron microscope studies of development of the ultraviolet-reflecting scales of male Colias eurytheme butterflies show that basic developmental processes are similar to those of other scales. The ridges form between bundles of microfilaments and as they form they buckle to produce the lamellae seen in the adult scales. There is evidence that the buckling may be purely in response to mechanical stress and that some of the bundles of microfilaments may produce such stresses.