Nanoprotuberance Array in the Transparent Wing of a Hawkmoth, Cephonodes hylas

Abstract A highly ordered nanocomposite was discovered in the transparent wing of a hawkmoth, Cephonodes hylas. The protuberances, nipple-like shaped and 250 nm in height, are regular-hexagonally arranged with the center-to-center distance of 200 nm. This morphology is almost the same as those of “corneal nipple arrays” of some insect eyes. Nanocomposites closely similar to that of the Cephonodes wing were also found in transparent wings of some other moths (Sphingidae and Sesiidae) and cicadae.