Glasswing Butterfly

(Greta oto)

The wings of the Glasswing Butterfly are completely transparent! That’s because most butterflies have scales all over their wings (which reflect the colors you normally see) while the Glasswing only has scales around the edges and veins.

Glasswings are also poisonous! But they do not produce their own toxins. Instead, they ingest toxins from flowers by drinking their nectar! This makes them taste unpleasant to potential predators. There are dozens of species of glasswing butterflies (also known as clearwing butterflies) found in Costa Rica where I photographed this individual.