Colorful nature is decorated by a variety of creatures, among which the beautiful dragonflies also have a credit.
In the colorful world of dragonflies, there are red, blue, rainbow, some with bright metallic colors,......, and there are everything.
So how is the color of an organism formed? This has two main effects. First, because the organism in its physiological biochemical metabolism, the synthesis of compounds with a certain color, we call it pigmentation, and by these pigmentation in a certain part and show different colors, this is called pigment color, also called chemical color. In addition, because of its special surface structure, organisms produce different reflections, refractions or scattering of light, and display different colors, which is called structural color, also known as physical color. Of course, the formation of the color of the organism, these two color effects are available to varying degrees.
The color of the dragonfly, in a large part, is a structural color, which is formed due to the special physical structure of the surface of its body and wings, so during the flight of the dragonfly, or from different angles to observe, people will have different flashing visual feelings. In addition to structural colors, dragonflies also have pigments of red, yellow, brown, black and other colors. The total hue of the dragonfly's body is formed by the combination of structural colors and these pigment colors. For example, the blue color of dragonflies is mainly formed by the reflection of blue light by the microstructure of its body surface, and the green is formed by the mixing of blue structure color and yellow pigment color.
Freshly feathered adult dragonflies, or first adults, called tenerals in English, are usually pale in color, but become dazzling after a few days. Some dragonflies, at first have a thin layer of light blue waxy powder on the surface of their bodies, which is their main reflective layer, but later in the mating process, this reflective layer is gradually worn away and disappears, and the color becomes somewhat dull.
Some dragonflies, such as the green needleflies in the family Dragonfly, have scattered microspheres in the dermal intraplasmic reticulum under their epidermis, causing them to form a dull blue color, which is also a structural color.
The wings of dragonflies, with the exception of dark veins and wing moles, the rest of the membranous parts are clear and transparent. Dragonflies in the family Dragonfly, called "chasers" in English, mean "god of war", "chaser", "hunter", etc. Dragonflies in many genera in this family have colored wings. For example, all four wings of brachythemis have brown bands; species of Crocothemis and Trithemis often have bright orange spots at the base of the wings. There are some species of dragonflies in the family, such as Aeshna grandis, whose wings are pale yellow but transparent.
The body color of dragonfly insects is generally dark brown, dark green or dark gray, etc., in order to better camouflage themselves, they often form a relatively consistent hue with the background color in the habitat.
The relevant terms in this article are compared in Both English and Chinese:
Aeshnidae
【绿织针蜓】green darner，common green darner，Anax junius
Epidermal cells
Tiny sphere
Endoplasmic reticulum
[Initial adults] teneral
【Wing mole】pterostigmata
Libellulidae
[Brachythemis] Commonly known in English as groundlings (meaning "land-skimming flyer")
[Crocothemis] Common english name is scarlets (meaning "crimson insects")
[Trithemis] Commonly known in English as dropwings (meaning "insects dragging wings")
[Aeshna grandis] commonly known as brown hawker (meaning "brown aerial hunter")