A new species of Phareas is described from Costa Rica and Panama. Phareas burnsi Grishin, sp. nov. differs from its South American sister species, Phareas coelesteWestwood, 1852, by wing patterns, which were quantified and revealed two clusters with a profound hiatus between them; male secondary sexual characters on hindwing; female genitalia, mostly in the depth of distal notch on lamella postvaginalis; and mitochondrial DNA sequences showing about 4.5% divergence in the COI barcode. Unexpectedly large individual variation in the shape of the Phareas male genitalic valvae is illustrated.