DIRCENNA KOLIJKENSIS

Excerpts from Jim Conrad's
Naturalist Newsletter

from the August 3, 2007 Newsletter issued from Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, QUERÉTARO, MÉXICO
CLEARWING
Maybe the prettiest butterfly seen last weekend paused on a twig long enough for me to get the picture shown below.

Unfortunately the most striking feature about this butterfly doesn't show up well in the picture. That is, the critter's wings are semi-transparent, or translucent.

UPDATE: In 2024, when the above photo was uploaded to iNaturalist, user "aleturkmen," a specialist in Mexican butterflies, identified our butterfly as DIRCENNA KOLIJKENSIS, found mainly from the uplands of central Mexico south throughout Central America. It bears no English name, other than the general group name of clearwing.

Whatever its name, when the butterfly flits through sunlight with red, yellow and blue flower colors translucing through sparkling wings, the effect is very nice indeed.