found it, they are known as glasswing butterflies (Greta
oto).
===
Greta oto is a
brush-footed butterfly, and is a member of the clearwing clade; its
wings are transparent. Its most common English name is
glasswing, and its Spanish name is espejitos, which means "little
mirrors." Indeed, the tissue between the veins of its wings looks
like glass. It is one of the more abundant clearwing species in its
home range, which extends throughout Central America into Mexico.
The opaque borders of its wings are dark brown sometimes tinted
with red or orange, and its body is dark in color. Its wingspan is
between 5.5 and 6 cm.
Glasswing
butterfly, Greta oto
Adults inhabit the rainforest understory and feed on the nectar of
a variety of tropical flowers. G.
oto prefers to lay its eggs on plants of the tropical
nightshade genus Cestrum. The silvery-gray caterpillars feed on
these toxic plants and store the alkaloids in their tissues, making
them distasteful to predators such as birds. They retain their
toxicity in adulthood. The same alkaloids that make them poisonous
also are converted into pheromones by the males, which use them to
attract females.
G. oto adults also exhibit
a number of interesting behaviors, such as long migrations and
lekking among males.
