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Butterfly adults are characterized by their four scale-covered wings, which give the Lepidoptera their name (Ancient Greek λεπίς lepís, scale + πτερόν pterón, wing). These scales give butterfly wings their colour: they are pigmented with melanins that give them blacks and browns, as well as uric acid derivatives and flavones that ...
The body of an adult butterfly or moth (the imago) has three distinct divisions, called tagmata, connected at constrictions; these tagmata are the head, thorax, and abdomen. Adult lepidopterans have four wings – a forewing and a hindwing on both the left and the right side of the thorax – and, like all insects, three pairs of legs. [11]
The length of the wings is 31–34 mm for males and 28–36 mm for females. Adults are on wing nearly year round. They are notable for the presence of blue pigments in their wings, as opposed to blue created by physical structures. The larvae feed on Alchornea costaricensis and Plukenetia volubilis.
Adult emergence occurs primarily in the beginning of the wet season, when the climate and air humidity makes food resources plentiful and oviposition advantageous. [5] The butterfly spends 3 to 4 weeks as an adult, and the entire life cycle is about 115 days. Adults fly along rivers, or anywhere that open land has been revealed. [9]
The emergent adult hangs upside down for several hours while it pumps fluids and air into its wings, which expand, dry, and stiffen. The butterfly then extends and retracts its wings. Once conditions allow, it flies and feeds on a variety of nectar plants.
The adult glasswing butterfly can be identified by its transparent wings with opaque, dark brown borders tinted with red or orange. Their bodies are a dark brown color. The butterflies are 2.8 to 3.0 centimetres (1.1 to 1.2 in) long and have a wingspan of 5.6 to 6.1 centimetres (2.2 to 2.4 in). [1] [3]