An antique diamond beetle

Another view down the microscope. This is a close up view of the surface of the elytra (wing case) of a highly colourful diamond beetle. which died in 1874. 

"Some beetles are sometimes referred to as ‘living jewels’, in allusion to the strikingly diverse array of iridescence mechanisms and optical effects that have arisen in beetles. A number of novel and sophisticated reflectance mechanisms have been discovered in recent years, including three-dimensional photonic crystals and quasi-ordered coherent scattering arrays." No, I don't understand this either but you can get a full explanation in the paper from which I took the quote; read all about it here!