As well as enhancing transparency in certain insects, nanostructures may be associated with the colour black on certainlepidopteran wing scales. Although the dark melanin-based pigmentation in such scales is the absorbing medium, optical scattering from/// specific tapered nanostructures on and within each scale significantly increases incident light absorption by the pigment andsubsequently enhances the visual appearance of the blackness (P.V.,J.R.S. and C. R. Lawrence, unpublished data).