Monarch Butterfly wings have evolved a porous wing structure that is optimized in terms of its stiffness-to-weight ratio. The complexity and elegance of its loopy, tendril-like morphology can be attributed to this development, but not entirely. It turns out that a primary emergent effect of this structuration is that it bends light waves in such a way that it generates color. The myriad colors visible on the monarch wing are in fact due to the varying size and depth of these pores. The wing is therefore multi-optimized toward at least two (and likely more) performative effects.