xanthopterin

xan·thop·ter·in

(zăn-thŏp′tər-ĭn)

A yellow pigment found in many insects, especially in the wings of certain butterflies and moths, and also present in the urine of mammals.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

xanthopterin

(zænˈθɒptərɪn)

(Chemistry) chem a yellow pigment, C6H5N5O2, found in some butterfly or moth wings or in the urine of mammals

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

References in periodicals archive ?

The St Margaret team's winning idea involved extracting the chemical Xanthopterin from the Oriental hornet - with the students inspired by the chemical reactions within the insect.

Students prevail at challenge

The structure of the yellow segments enabled the hard cuticle to trap the light and the distinct pigment within the yellow cuticle, xanthopterin, was actually able to "harvest" the energy from that light.

Lifetime of Learning

Failure of testosterone or xanthopterin to influence the induction of renal neoplasms'by lead in rats.

Heavy Protein Alteration under the Effects of Lead Acetate in Bactrocera cucurbitae

And when Plotkin and his colleagues extracted a yellow pigment called xanthopterin from the hornet's outer shell and plopped it into a solar cell that uses dyes to absorb light, the device squeaked out some electricity.

Hornet pigment can drive solar cell: an insect's light-harvesting apparatus intrigues scientists

The hornet's yellow tissues contained the obscure pigment xanthopterin, which gives butterfly wings and mammal urine their color.