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This Velvet Ant Provides New Insights Into Nature’s Ultrablack Secrets
New research has found an insect species with markings that are so black that they’re ‘superblack’ or ‘ultrablack’, absorbing nearly all visible and ultraviolet light.
© by GrrlScientist for Forbes | LinkTr.ee
An international team of scientists recently published detailed studies of a Brazilian species of velvet ant that they discovered to have superblack, or ultrablack, patches.
An ultrablack substance is defined as a material that reflects less than 0.5% of the visible and ultraviolet light that hits its surface. This rare structural color is part of the assortment of naturally occurring colors seen in some species of birds of paradise, snakes, butterflies, spiders, and fishes (Figure 1). Ultrablack components are used in telescopes, cameras, and solar panels to improve the efficiency of light capture and provide camouflage for military vessels. Nonetheless, the discovery of the ultrablack cuticle in the Brazilian velvet ant, Traumatomutilla bifurca, makes this species unique amongst their relatives, the bees, wasps, and ants.
