Greta Oto visits common flowers like lantana, but prefers to lay its eggs on plants of the tropical nightshade genus Cestrum. The red and purple striped 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.
The Greta Oto adults also exhibit a number of interesting behaviors, such as long migrations and lekking among males.
Cause this butterfly's wings are transparent, it blends into its background, thus is particularly difficult to spot in the wild. The tissue between the wing's veins looks like the panes of a little glass window.
It's hard to believe that these beautiful glasswing butterflies could have metamorphosized from a caterpillar, especially an ugly one that looks like a hairy centipede. Yet if it was not for these leaf munching machines there would be no adult butterflies.
The Glasswing butterflies can carry up to 40 times their body weight.
Another interesting facts about butterflies in general, and glasswings in particular, is that they taste, through their 6 legs.
The Top speed for a glasswing is about 8 mph. 12 km/hr.
http://scienceray.com/biology/zoology/almost-invisible-the-incredible-glasswing-butterfly/
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