At the nanoscale, the explicit structural photonic functionality of coloured animal samples is extremely difficult to deconvolve from their local surface morphology. However, the photonic signatures of dimensionally scaled-up reconstructed models at microwave frequencies are wholly analogous to the optical signatures of original insect samples. By using appropriate models at the centimetre scale, therefore, photonic function of coloured animal's photonic nanostructure becomes fully accessible for interrogation. This project comprises three thrusts. The first is detailed EM analysis of insect photonic nanostructure known to be of significant interest to applied optics technologies. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images of sample cross-sections will be used to reveal their dimensionality and structural geometries. The second is the computer-aided digital reconstruction, based on successive TEM sectional images, of each sample. In more complex 3D photonic nanostructure, TEM tomography can be used for unit cell reconstruction from series of images of a single section taken at successive tilt angles. These digital reconstructions are followed by actual 3D reconstruction at the centimetre scale, using the selective laser sintering (SLS) facility at Exeter (SECAM). The third component comprises complete analysis of the photonic character of the centimetre-scale replication using the microwave beam facility at Exeter.