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Blue-banded Morpho

Morpho achilles

Photo by July Llanes
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

In Morpho achilles the dorsal sides of the forewings are black, with two broad vertical bands of brilliant blue. The underside of the hindwings is olive-brownish, with several ocelli formed by blue, yellow, red and red concentric rings. The caterpillars feed on various species of climbing legumes, while the adults mainly feed on rotting fruits or fermenting juice and tree sap.

Habitat:

This species can be found over a huge range of countries, particularly in Argentina, Surinam, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Paraguay, and Brazil.

Notes:

Seen at the Butterfly Conservatory at the New York Museum of Natural History!

Reference Links:

Morpho achilles

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (3)
July Llanes
I saw it at at the Butterfly Conservatory at the New York Museum of Natural History.
MartinL
Can you say what country it is from? Was it taken at a zoo? Looks like female Morpho butterfly, possibly M. patroclus
KarenL
Very pretty! It looks like a Limenitis species. Did you spot this at a butterfly exhibit?

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Butterflies & Moths of the World
Photographed
PublishedDecember 1, 2011

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