Elusive forest creature — with ‘translucent’ wings — found in Brazil. See new species
In the eastern Bahia region of Brazil, dancers combine fluid movements with martial arts and battle moves.
The Afro-Brazilian folk dance, called maculelê, has dancers using two sticks to mimic traditional warriors set to the beat of drums.
When a group of researchers discovered a new species in Bahia, they chose to honor the history of the region by naming the species after the dance, according to a study published Oct. 18 in the peer-reviewed journal Tropical Lepidoptera Research.
Brevioleria maculele, or the maculelê clearwing butterfly, is just half an inch long with a black and white body, according to the study.
The veins of the wings are black leading to brown and orangish brown edges, researchers said. The wings themselves, however, are completely “translucent.”
Researchers were going through Brazilian museum collections when they saw that a few specimens didn’t have quite the same pattern on their wings or the same genitalia, according to the study.
The butterflies had been recently collected, researchers said, and when their DNA was compared to other related clearwings, it confirmed that researchers had found a new species.
“In the present case, this is a new species that was never previously collected; the few known individuals come from relatively recent sampling in south Bahia,” researchers said.
They predict that the species may not be “locally abundant,” and therefore is easily confused with species that are physically similar.
“Brevioleria maculele sp. nov. has been recorded from the warm rainforests of South Bahia, at elevations from (about 300 to 2,600 feet) in well-preserved forests,” according to the study.
The Atlantic Forest is filled with “subtropical forests” in the south, “semi deciduous forests” in the interior section and “tropical evergreen forests” to the north, researchers said. The diverse environment provides a home to many butterfly species, including other clearwings with a blue tint to their see-through extremities.
According to a 2019 study, the species evolved transparent wings to blend into their environment and to avoid detection from a range of predators.
The Atlantic Forest is in eastern Brazil along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
This story was originally published October 25, 2024 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Elusive forest creature — with ‘translucent’ wings — found in Brazil. See new species."
