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Blue Morpho Butterfly Species, Details, Cost, Origin, Facts, Pictures & More
The Blue Morpho Butterfly is one of the beautiful and the world’s largest butterfly species in the world. The scientific name of this creature is Morpho. The Morpho butterfly is a mixture of various Neotropical butterflies. It is a member of the Nymphalidae family, and it comes under the order of Lepidoptera. These species are mostly found in the range of South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Blue Morpho butterflies can be seen in tropical rain forest areas, and mostly they spend their time in the ground, lower shrubs and trees by folding their wings. The wingspan of the species is around 5 – 8 inches long. The attractive bright blue colour of this butterfly is located at the backs of their wings and reflects light. The outer part of the wings is the dull brown color with many eyespots that works as a camouflage to escape for its predators. The wings of male Morpho are broader than the female, and the color will be even brighter than the female. Apart from coloration, it is also like other butterflies. It has two clubbed antennas, four wings, six legs, and three body segments.
Scientific name: Morpho menelaus
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Family: Nymphalidae
Higher classification: Morpho
Order: Lepidoptera
Kingdom: Animalia
Order: Lepidoptera
Subfamily: Morphinae
Tribe: Morphini
Genus: Morpho
Species of Blue Morpho Butterfly
The Blue Morpho butterfly species belong to the genus Morpho. The Morpho genus has 29 recognized species and 147 subspecies. Here we listed some species of the Blue Morpho butterfly.
- Morpho cypris (Cypris blue morpho)
- Morpho didius (Didius blue morpho)
- Morpho helenor (Helenor blue morpho)
- Morpho menelaus (Menelaus blue morpho)
- Morpho peleides (Peleides blue morpho)
- Morpho rhetenor (Rhetenor blue morpho)
Interesting Facts about Blue Morpho Butterfly
- The natural predators of these butterflies are birds like flycatchers and jacamars, and humans.
- It is one of the species with a short lifespan, and it can only live for nearly 115 days.
- Butterflies like Monarch and Pipevine Swallowtail sometimes eat some poisonous plants when they are caterpillars which makes themselves poisonous during adult.
- These blue butterflies are the symbol of Spirit, and in some cultures, they recognize it as a symbol of luck. Most often, the blue colored butterflies are considered as a symbol of love and happiness.
- The caterpillars of Blue Morpho looks reddish-brown with some patterned patches of other colors. These caterpillars have diamond-shaped bright lime green patches, and sometimes it may be in dull grey or yellow color.
- The female Morpho lays roughly 23 eggs on the plants.
- The characteristics of the Blue Morpho butterfly are similar to other butterflies. It has sensors on their legs to taste fruits and smells the tasted air using its antennae.
- The male Morpho butterflies are in dazzling blue, but the female will be in unusual brown and yellow colors.
- The Adult Blue Morpho will mostly drink their food. It uses the proboscis to drink the juice of the flowers and fruits.
Blue Morpho Butterfly Images
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