The glasswing butterfly has a unique type of transparency

Some butterflies and moths have achieved the ultimate self-defense mechanism. Species like the glasswing butterfly, Greta oto, have evolved transparent wings that make them nearly invisible to predators. A team of scientists led by the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) set out to investigate how transparent structures, which are far more common in marine animals, developed in the glasswing butterfly. "It's an interesting biological question because there just aren't that many transparent organisms on land," said study lead author Aaron Pomerantz, a PhD candidate at UC Berkeley. "So …