Fly eye

hkv · Post by **hkv** » Thu Feb 02, 2017 10:38 am

I have no idea what species of fly this is. Found it on the floor. These are shot with MPlan Fluorites 10X. Full body 1.25X (APO)
Illumination through ping pong ball and Zeiss fiber optic illuminator.

Jacek · Post by **Jacek** » Fri Feb 03, 2017 8:53 am

Very nice

fpelectronica · Post by **fpelectronica** » Fri Feb 03, 2017 10:05 am

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Fri Feb 03, 2017 5:44 pm

Nice! You might start looking at Family Ulidiidae - "Picture-winged Flies" to try and narrow down ID a bit.

The third image shows interference patterns that have been studied. Have a look at this PDF:
http://www.pnas.org/content/108/2/668.full.pdf

carlos.uruguay · Post by **carlos.uruguay** » Sat Feb 04, 2017 7:59 am

Super

hkv · Post by **hkv** » Mon Feb 06, 2017 3:36 pm

Thank you all and thank you Charles for the reference to the paper. Very interesting work done by these researchers. This section captures the essence of why the wing is sparkling with colors.

The wings of most insects are mainly composed of two layers of transparent chitin compressed to a single membrane with a refractive index of approximately 1.57. In air, these dimensions are ideal for two-beam thin film interference, whereby light beams reflect from the upper and lower surfaces of the membrane. The thickness of the composite chitinous membrane varies with the topography of the wing, and the areas of different thickness reflect different interference colors that together produce a specific color pattern, the WIP.

I will make an attempt to walk through all the picture winged flies and see if I see a match.