The spectrum from V(Vein) shown in Fig. 4b resembles that
from B1 in profile but not in intensity. The reflectance on the V
is weak, being consistent with its dark looks seen in Fig. 1a. The
reflectance of Win Fig. 4c is greater than that of B1, and exceeds
10%, corresponding to its white hues. Heaps appear with peaks
at 500 and 250 nm. The iridescent colouring (Fig. 1f) can be
explained using these peaks as made for the spectrum from
B1. The valley of the reflectance spectrum from green to red region is ascribed to the nonreflective, transmitted light, most of which is absorbed by melanin pigments in the scales, because
the valley in the B1 spectrum is deeper than that in the W spectrum. B1 and W scales have almost the same microstructure and
exhibit similar peaks in the reflectance spectra. Therefore it may
be considered that the vivid blue colouration of B1 is caused by
the absorption of shorter wavelength rays by melanin in the
cuticle layers. According to Ou-Yang et al. (2004),