WHY DO THESE BUTTERFLIES Have clear wings?

Stories

Clearwing Butterflies

A common sight in Tambopata: Clearwing butterflies, known as the Ithomiini, are beautiful, deadly, and a bit confusing to scientists. 

Why are they clear?

  • Most butterflies have scales on their wings which result in their color. If you rubbed off those scales, the wings would look clear.
  • Clearwing butterflies mostly have scales along their wing veins, and lightly throughout the rest.
  • If you can imagine a clear butterfly flying in the shadowy understory of the Amazon, it makes quite a difficult target to follow, protecting them from predators like birds.

Why are clearing butterflies deadly?

  • Unlike most butterflies that are poisonous, clearwings do not eat a poisonous plant as a caterpillar to incorporate it into the adult stage.
  • Instead, these butterflies actually seek out poisonous flowers with pyrrolizidine alkaloids in them as an adult to obtain this toxin (see above image).
  • Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are known to cause damage to livers and can cause death in some cases.

What is an Ithomiine Pocket?

  • One of the most interesting things about these butterflies is that they form ‘pockets’ in the forest in which dozens of clearwings of different species all roost for the night in one distinct area.
  • This can be observed around 4 pm, in which clearwings are slowly all flying around each other getting ready to roost, and at night, when the butterflies have all settled on low-hanging branches or vines.
  • It is still unknown why they do this, but one theory says it serves as a sort of dry-season ‘jail’ when climatic conditions aren’t favorable.
  • However, I have observed very large ithomiine pockets in rainforests without dry seasons and with consistent rain, so they are likely another underlying cause as well.

Where can you see clearing butterflies?

  • Walk with an expert guide through the Amazonian forest, especially among floodplain forests.
  • They feed on special plants, so your guide might be recognized them along the way.
  • Join the world of butterflies activities at Tambopata Research Center
  • And if you want to see more nocturnal butterflies or moths, join the Discovering New Species activity, where who knows, you might be able to «discover a new species» and name it!

 

Follow Phil Torres on Twitter

 

Photo by Paul Bertner

  • What our guest say

    • Valuation Excellent
    • 5/5

Jacob Shama May 2024

Yaacov May 2024

secaBoulder May 2024

Cecilia D May 2024

Andrea Breanna Apr 2024

A user Apr 2024

Niko Dietsch Apr 2024

Yuting C Apr 2024

Yuting Chen Apr 2024

Víctor Moscoso Apr 2024

Ari S March 2024

Dreamer627120 March 2024

The lodge is located in the middle of the forest accessible only by boat. The experience was very unique and exciting. Service is great, and the fun part are the nature activities and tours the hotel offers for free. We had an amazing tour guide that had a lot of knowledge and was fun to spend time with. The rooms are totally open to the forest which is really cool the struggle is the there is no privacy at all in between the rooms, also food was pretty basic. All together a very unique experience. Read all

This hotel is the perfect blend of comfort and hospitality, with the natural experience. The hotel is reached by a hours boat ride from Puerto Maldonado, expertly organized and accomplished. Most staff are members of the local Esa Ejja community. The food is good and plentiful. Hot water is always available and lovely bedding features mosquito nets. There is of course no air conditioning (one side wall is open in rach room) and the electricity is off for a few hours at night affecting overhead fans, so I was glad to have brought a small battery powered fan for sleeping. But the best of the experience is the wildlife. Our expert guide Oscar Mishaja introduced us to nearly 100 bird species, along with caimans, river otters, poison dart frogs and capybara. A trip of a lifetime. Read all

Excellent experience overall— really kind and welcoming staff at every point of the journey. All transfers were well organized and smooth. Excellent and educational excursions all around the rainforest. Delicious food for every meal. We had wonderful guides- Freet and Alvaro. Enjoyed our time here! Read all

Unbelievable.... Magical Everything I have dreamed of since I was 8 years old but MORE Read all

We had a surreal experience at Refugio Amazonas. From the well organized transportation to the warm welcome, hospitality and the experience of living in nature - we loved it all. Huge shout out to our guide Boris who went out of his way to ensure we had a good experience and got to watch all kinds of wild life. The meals and cocktails were delicious. And even though this place is smack in the middle of the jungle there was super fast WiFi available. We made unforgettable memories. Read all

We had an amazing time in TRC. From the guide, tours, lounge staff, food and room, everything has exceeded our expectation and like an amazing dream came true. We highly recommend to directly book with the lounge website, so that you got a private guide for your group. Special thanks to our guide Saul, who made this experience extra special! We were so impressed by his knowledge about all the animals and the rainforest. Read all

We had an amazing time in TRC. From the guide, tours, lounge staff, food and room, everything has exceeded our expectation and like an amazing dream came true. This is the only lounge available in Tambopata national park, and this eco lounge takes environment seriously. We highly recommend to directly book with the lounge website, so that you got a private guide for your group. Special thanks to our guide Saul, who made this experience extra special! We were so impressed by his knowledge about all the animals and the rainforest. If you are a natural lover, you can’t miss this place Read all

Excellent and luxurious place, wonderful experience and our guide Boris was first class, he had a unique patience with my 8 year old son. An experience in the tropical rainforest that marks the life of its visitors. In addition to the scientific research that takes place in the place: a whole research center. Rooms: Very comfortable and luxuriou Read all

El mejor hotel para visitar la Amazonia peruana. Hotel eco turístico metido en medio de la selva, equipado para visitar y vivir la selva, su flora y fauna, en todas sus facetas. Todo incluido, con guías preparados y amables, resultó una experiencia increíble para mi familia. Dentro de las opciones no se debe perder el Canopy de 45 metros de altura para observar y escuchar la selva, así como el lago de las tres Chimbadas, lugar único para ver caimanes, nutrias gigantes, monos y aves exóticas. Recomiendo mínimo dos noches!!! Read all

Wunderbare lodge mit freundlichen Menschen. sehr persönliche guides, tolle Tourangebote und super kulinarische Verpflegung ! Wir wurden herzlichst von Caesar empfangen und unser guide JuanJo hat uns phantastische Dinge gezeigt. Wir können die lodge nur wärmstens empfehlen! Read all

Join To Our Newsletter

Write your e-mail

Join
-->