Supplementary material from “Optically-ambidextrous circularly-polarised reflection from the chiral cuticle of the scarab beetle Chrysina resplendens”

Figure S1 shows experimental measurements of circular polarisation reflectance for a sample of eighty positions on the dorsal surface of the elytron. The results indicate that the main features of the CP spectra are consistently present across the sample of locations, and that some variation in the relative intensities and spectral positions of the features is observed. Figure S2 shows experimental measurements of circular polarisation reflectance, performed on a prepared piece of elytron following removal of the endocuticle. Seven sets of measurements were made for incidence upon the dorsal surface and for incidence upon the exposed surface of the underside of the exocuticle. The results support the view that the spectra shown in figure 3b are typical of the exocuticle for incidence upon its exposed underside surface. The results also show that for incidence upon the dorsal surface the main spectral features seen in figure S1 were still observed following endocuticle removal. Figure S3 shows examples of SEM images of fractured sections of the exocuticle of the elytron. Figure S4 shows a schematic of the circular-polarisation reflectance measurement setup.