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Money based on butterfly colors could prevent bank fraud

Money based on butterfly colors could prevent bank fraud

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British scientists have figured out how to create copies of the colorful microscopic structures found in butterflies' wings. Researchers hope this technology could help encrypt optical signatures on money.

Bank fraud might soon be a crime of the past thanks to butterfly wings. Using the wing scales of Papilio blumei for inspiration, British researchers have created microstructures that mimic the way light reflects off of butterflies.

Butterflies don't have pigments like our skin does. Instead, the wings of butterflies look like "the inside of an egg carton" — which allows it to shine light in a peculiar way.

University of Cambridge researchers created identical copies of the butterfly-like scale structures using nanofabrication techniques.

While the colors are pretty, the complex reflections also help the insects survive. Butterflies have evolved this brilliant optical design so they can hide from predators, but still remain visible to nearby butterflies.

In the future, if researchers can mimic the optical structures of butterflies and print them onto bank notes, security printing would be so much smarter. Mathias Kolle of the University of Cambridge said in a statement:


If the butterfly-like structure ever makes its way into the banking system, it would be harder for forgers to use fake money or commit credit card fraud.

Credit: Mathias Kolle, University of Cambridge

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Boonsri Dickinson

Contributing Editor
