Animal eye candy

Students find new camouflage trick in moth species

The animal world has a lot to offer visually: Frogfish off Tenerife and moth that can imitate leaves using optical illusion

(Bild: condrik_tenerife/Paris Lodron Universität Salzburg)

While researchers off Tenerife have captured the first video footage of a deep-sea frogfish on the surface of the sea, students from Salzburg have discovered another visually striking animal - albeit in the air.

The animal kingdom is known for its visual peculiarities. The sighting of a deep-sea frogfish on the surface of the sea off the island of Tenerife proved this once again in recent days.

In Salzburg, too, a visually striking animal is currently being studied: the moth species Eudocima aurantia. Students at the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg have discovered something astonishing about this special species: The nocturnal, fruit-sucking moth uses specialized nanostructures on its wings to imitate the three-dimensional appearance of a leaf - even though its wings are actually flat.

"The moth generates targeted light reflections that are created by thin-film interference on its wings," explains the research team led by Professor Bodo Wilts. "This technique ensures that certain parts of the wing reflect more brightly, just like the curved areas of a real leaf."

The research team - which includes the Salzburg students as well as other international scientists - now wants to use the new findings in the development of new camouflage materials, for example.