A personal selection of photographs with their stories.
348: Transparent wings
This butterfly may be a general appearance in the parks in Belo Horizonte, it does not occur in the wild in the immediate vicinity. The Greta Oto is mainly found in tropical rain forests, where the flowers grow from which the butterfly lives. It looks like a fragile insect, but this butterfly is pretty strong. It can carry a multiple of its own weight and can travel about ten kilometers a day. The wings are transparent, and that is unique in the animal world. Some aquatic animals such as jellyfish are transparent, but on land and in the air it is very rare to observe transparent animals. The light is not absorbed by the wings and is also not reflected. Thanks to a not fully understood microstructure, light is bent in such a way that our eyes recognize it as transparent. In this way, this butterfly can protect itself against its predators.
© Adriano Antoine Robbesom 2011, 2017
Adriano Antoine 