ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY AND SPECTROSCOPICAL STUDIES ON THE COLORED PATCHES ON THE WING OF A BUTTERFLY, GRAPHIUM SARPEDON (LEPIDOPTERA, PAPILLIONIDAE) WITH REFERENCE TO THEIR PHOTOBIOLOGICAL AND ELECTRICAL-PROPERTIES

The surface ultra-structural features of the coloured patches on the w ing of a butterfly Graphium sarpedon have been studied with the help o f scanning electron microscopy. Comparisons have been made between the dark brown area and the light green patches of the wing. A diffractio n grating pattern with 15 lines per mu m(2) with a uniform spacing of about 1 mu m is present in the light green patches. A slightly coarser grating is present on the dark brown area, which constitutes the majo r portion of the wing. Sensilla chaetica was found on both the light g reen and dark brown area. A special type of sensilla trichodea with a big socket and some elongated projections were localized only on the l ight green patches. This region of the wing also contains some spheric al structures with a diameter of 0.5 to 0.6 mu m. The infra-red spectr oscopy has revealed some differences in the nature and position of the peaks in the low-energy region in the dark brown area and the light g reen patches. The atomic absorption spectroscopy also shows qualitativ e as well as quantitative differences in the inorganic set up of the t wo regions. The electron spin resonance spectroscopy reveals the prese nce of a peak in the dark brown region only, indicating the presence o f free radical in it. The differences observed in the ultra-structural and spectroscopical features, and also in the inorganic components of the two regions, are discussed in relation to their physical and phys iological properties.