Greta oto is a brush-footed butterfly, and is a member of the clearwing clade. Its wingspan is 2.2 to 2.4 in (5.6 to 6.1 cm).
Adults range from Mexico through Panama. G. 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.
G. oto adults also exhibit a number of interesting behaviors, such as long migrations and lekking among males.
References
- ^ a b c d Henderson, Carrol L. (2002). "Greta oto". Field guide to the Wildlife of Costa Rica . Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. p. 56. ISBN 0-292-73459-X. OCLC 46959925 . http://books.google.com/books?id=MjHmVj7R2s0C&pg=PA56 . Retrieved 9 March 2009 .
Further reading
- Hall, S. K. (1996). "Behaviour and natural history of Greta oto in captivity". Tropical Lepidoptera 7 (2).
- Johnsen, Sönke (December 2001). "Hidden in Plain Sight: The Ecology and Physiology of Organismal Transparency". Biological Bulletin (Marine Biological Laboratory) 201 (3): 301–318. doi: 10.2307/1543609 . PMID 11751243 . http://www.biolbull.org/cgi/reprint/201/3/301.pdf .
- Binetti, Valerie R.; Jessica D. Schiffman, Oren D. Leaffer, Jonathan E. Spanier and Caroline L. Schauer (2009). "The natural transparency and piezoelectric response of the Greta oto butterfly wing". Integrative Biology . doi: 10.1039/b820205b .
- Catchpoole, David (September 2008). "Watch a glasswing passing (without flying colours)". Creation (Creation Ministries International) 30 (4): 56.
External links
- Batty, Paul W. (2004). "The Glasswing Greta oto " . http://www.pwbelg.clara.net/page3.html .
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