Geometry and Function of Antireflective Leafhopper Brochosomes

Leafhopper-produced brochosomes are hollow, buckyball-shaped, nanoscopic spheroids with through-holes distributed across their surface. However, since their discovery in the 1950s [1, 2], it remains unknown why the sizes of brochosomes and their through-holes consistently fall within hundreds of nanometers across different leafhopper species [3]. Here, we demonstrated that the hierarchical geometries of brochosomes are engineered within a narrow size range with hollow architecture to significantly reduce light reflection. We fabricated high-fidelity synthetic brochosomes at the microscale using two-photon polymerization 3D printing and demonstrated that the brochosomes can reduce light reflection by up to 94% through a synergistic effect of broadband Mie scattering and through-hole light absorption [4]. Brochosomes represent the first biological example showing short wavelength, low-pass antireflection functionality enabled by their through-holes and hollow structures. These findings suggest that brochosome geometries may have evolved to optimize leafhoppers’ camouflage by reducing reflection from ultraviolet to visible light [4, 5]. Our study suggests a novel strategy for optical manipulation at the micro- and nanoscale, such as multispectral antireflective coatings and information encryption [4 – 6].

References:
[1] G.S. Tulloch and J.E. Shapiro, Science 120, 232–232 (1954).
[2] G.S. Tulloch, J.E. Shapiro, and G.W. Cochrane, Bull. Brooklyn Ent. Soc. 47, 41– 42, (1952).
[3] L. Wang, J. Choi, and T.-S. Wong, Nano Res. 17, 734–742 (2023).
[4] L. Wang, Z. Li, S. Shen, and T.-S. Wong, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 121, e2312700121 (2024).
[5] S. Yang, N. Sun, B.B. Stogin, J. Wang, Y. Huang, T.-S. Wong, Nat. Commun. 8, 1285 (2017).
[6] Z. Li, L. Wang, X. Liu, J. Li, H.S. Yun, Z. Wang, X. Zhang, T.-S. Wong, S. Shen, Sci. Adv. 10, eadl4027 (2024).