How The Glasswing Butterfly Grow Their Invisible Wings
Glasswing butterflies (Greta oto) are a rare species that is found throughout areas of Central and South America. “Like ghosts in the rainforest,” according to Nipam Patel, director of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hold, Massachusetts, these strange insects have long mystified biologists with their ability to grow almost completely transparent wings. Now, integrative biologist at University of California, Berkeley, Aaron Pomerantz and his Ph.D. Adviser, Nipam Patel, believe they have solved that mystery.
Unlike other species with transparent wings, such as dragonflies, glasswing butterflies are better adapted to remaining unnoticed because their wings don’t shine or glimmer in sunlight. The butterfly’s wings are made from chitin, a thin, membranous natural polymer that is usually covered with tiny scales. Transparent wings exhibit ways of moving light around the scales by turning them vertically or having fewer scales to begin with. Glasswings produce fewer scales, but also convert the remaining scales to bristles, allowing light to pass through more easily. They also have tiny mounds known as nanopillars which appear to reduce the glare from sunlight.
These findings can have farther reaching implications, such as creating more efficient solar panels or better anti-glare lenses.
To learn more about glasswing butterflies and their incredible transparent wings, click here.
