There are more ways to add color to the fall garden other than planting a new crop of mums. Each fall, we enjoy the colors provided when the Red-spotted Purple butterflies, Limenitis arthemis, stop by to feed on the sweet nectar secreted by the white-topped pitcher plant, Sarracenia leucophylla. Depending on the angle of the light, the amount of human perceived blue on the butterfly wings change, as you can see in the two images of the same butterfly below taken seconds apart this past weekend. This is due to the intricate, nano-size scales (lamellae) that compose the wing. These diffract and interfere with certain light spectrums, causing the intensification of certain pigments, and the cancellation of others.
