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Blue Morpho
Morpho menelaus
24.5557, -81.7826
Field Notes
Description:
Wingspan: 5 - 8 inches (12 - 20 cm) Coloring: Top of wings are bright blue, edged with black. Underside is a dull brown color with many eyespots, providing camouflage against predators when its wings are closed. Males’ wings are broader than those of the females and appear to be brighter in color. When the blue morpho flies, the contrasting bright blue and dull brown colors flash, making it look like the morpho is appearing and disappearing. (Info from www.rainforest-alliance.org/kids/species-profiles/blue-butterfly)
Habitat:
Tropical forests of Latin America from Mexico to Colombia. Adults spend most of their time on the forest floor and in the lower shrubs and trees of the understory with their wings folded. However, when looking for mates, the blue morpho will fly through all layers of the forest. Caterpillar eats leaves of many varieties, but prefers to dine on plants in the pea family. Adult eats the juice of rotting fruit, the fluids of decomposing animals, tree sap, fungi and wet mud.
Blue morphos are severely threatened by deforestation of tropical forests and habitat fragmentation. Humans provide a direct threat to this spectacular creature because their beauty attracts artists and collectors from all over the globe who wish to capture and display them.
(www.rainforest-alliance.org/kids/species-profiles/blue-butterfly)
Notes:
These ones were not actually found in the wild, but in a place called "The butterfly house." in Key West, Florida, where you can go to learn about butterflies, as well as go into a greenhouse-like habitat they set up where you can see the butterflies as they fly all around you. Blue morpho was just one of many species they had. I was able to get some beautiful pictures, and even had one land on my arm, which is considered good luck! I was just excited to be so close to one!
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