The representation of the color of butterflies has always
been a challenge to artis
ts, whatever the medium
involved. These colors are highly complex to reproduce, even with the use of computer generated images. This
article introduces a new algorithm developed to simulate and generate the iridescent colors that are found on the
wings of particular butterflies. The model presented here
is based on the scientific description of the butterfly
Morpho menelaus
. Wing color is determined by interference, diffraction, absorption and reflection of light on
microscopic wing's structures. The color varies dependi
ng on a combination of the following parameters: view
angle, incidence and characteristics of the light source, and surrounding medium. This algorithm which tends to
real-time imaging required by computer graphics artis
ts still renders images with a fairly high degree of
accuracy
