Butterflies are famous for their impressive colours. Their wings can come in the brightest shades of blue, green, red, yellow and more. Surprisingly though, the most spectacular butterfly colour is black.
The wings of black butterflies are covered in the darkest material found in nature. They absorb more than 99.9% of all the light that hits them, making them blacker than almost any other substance in the world.
This extreme darkness is achieved by the microscopic structure of the scales that cover butterfly wings. The scales have two layers, with holes in the top layer that allow light to shine through. The top layer is covered in ridges, while there are pillars between the two that hold them apart. The larger these ridges and pillars, the better they trap light, and the darker the colour.
While humans have invented materials darker than butterfly wings, ours are much thicker and heavier. Scientists now hope to copy butterflies and possibly improve on their already-spectacular blackness.
Lachlan Writes Science 