Transparent larvae hide opaque eyes behind reflections

Becoming invisible is probably the ultimate form of camouflage: you don't just blend in, the background shows through you. And this strategy is not as uncommon as you might think. Kathryn Feller, from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA, explains that the larval life stages of many marine species are transparent. However, there is one part of the anatomy that most creatures cannot make transparent. Feller explains that the animals with compound eyes have to shield each individual eye unit with an opaque pigment to prevent light leaking between adjacent eye structures. This could blow the larvae's cover and poses the question, how do larvae disguise their conspicuous eyes?

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