Thermoregulation

Innovation from Nature

Even in summer heat, butterflies keep a cool head — or rather, cool wings. To regulate their temperature, they use sophisticated techniques.

How it works
When butterflies get too hot, they first avoid direct light. If one spot overheats, the green hairstreak closes its wings together so that the heat is distributed across a larger surface. In addition, it pumps fluid through the wing veins and releases heat through a specially shaped wing scale. The cabbage white uses a different method: the surface structures of its wings reflect the entire light spectrum and thus keep excess heat away from the body.

→ Surface structures similar to those of the cabbage white could one day help protect façades from overheating. Cooling systems that respond to light are also the subject of current research.