Optical and Morphological Properties of the Cuticle of Chrysina Resplendens Scarabs: Role of Effective and Structural Pitchess

Abstract

Measured reflectance spectra by cuticles of <em>C. resplendens</em> scarabs, in the spectral range 300 to 1000 nm, show high variability depending on the magnitude of the illuminated area, the position of the illuminated section, the elytron, a single specimen, and on the different specimens considered. This fact suggests variability in the depth dependence of the pitch and of the average uric acid concentration, and on the thickness of the retarder layer located between the two helicoidal structures characterizing the cuticle of these beetles.