Morpho facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Morpho butterflies

Morpho didius – Museum specimen
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Subfamily:	Morphinae
Genus:	Morpho

A Morpho is a butterfly in one of over 29 species and 147 subspecies in the genus Morpho.

Morphos are Neotropical butterflies found mostly in South America, Mexico and Central America. Morphos range in wingspan from the 7.5 cm (3 inch) M. rhodopteron to the imposing 20 cm (8 inch) Sunset Morpho, M. hecuba.

Etymology
Colours
- Habitat
- Flight
- Protection
- Life cycle
Collectors
Species
Images for kids
See also

Etymology

The genus name Morpho comes from an Ancient Greek epithet μορφώ, roughly "the shapely one", for Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty.

Colours

Many Morpho butterflies are coloured in metallic, shimmering shades of blue and green. These colours are not caused by pigment. They are an example of iridescence: light reflects through the microscopic scales covering the Morpho's wings.

Habitat

Their habitat is the primary forests of the Amazon and Atlantic. They can breed in other forested habitats, for instance the dry deciduous woodlands of Nicaragua and in secondary forests.

Flight

Morphos are strong fliers, found at altitudes between sea level and about 1400 m. Morphos are diurnal: males spend the mornings patrolling along forest streams and rivers. They are territorial and will chase any rivals. Morphos typically live alone out of the mating season.

Protection

The adults are usually palatable, but hard to catch because they are such strong fliers. Birds find it very hard to catch them.

The conspicuous blue coloration shared by most Morpho species may be a case of Müllerian mimicry, or may be 'pursuit aposematism'. This means the bird learns that the colour says, in effect, "don't waste your energy, you can't catch me".

Life cycle

The entire life cycle of the Morpho butterfly, from egg to death, is approximately 115 days.

caterpillars

pupae and emerging adult

Although the adults are palatable, the larvae are not. Their hairs are irritating, and when disturbed they secrete a noxious fluid which smells like rancid butter. The strong odour is a defence against predators.

The caterpillar will molt five times before entering the pupal stage. The bulbous chrysalis is pale-green or jade-green and emits a repulsive, ultrasonic sound when touched. It is suspended from a stem or leaf of the foodplant.

Collectors

A morpho butterfly collection

Morpho butterflies, often very expensive, have always been prized by extremely wealthy collectors. Famous collections include those of the London jeweler Dru Drury and the Dutch merchant Pieter Teyler van der Hulst, the Paris diplomat Georges Rousseau-Decelle, the financier Walter Rothschild, the Romanov Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia and the, English and German respectively, businessmen James John Joicey and Curt Eisner. In earlier years, Morphos graced cabinets of curiosities "Kunstkamera" and royal cabinets of natural history notably those of Tsar of Russia Peter the Great, the Austrian empress Maria Theresa and Ulrika Eleonora, Queen of Sweden. More famous is Maria Sibylla Merian, who was not wealthy.

The people along the Rio Negro in Brazil once exploited the territorial habits of the blue morpho (M. menelaus) by luring them into clearings with bright blue decoys. The collected butterfly wings were used as embellishment for ceremonial masks. Adult morpho butterflies feed on the juices of fermenting fruit with which they may also be lured. The butterflies wobble in flight and are easy to catch.

Species

This list is arranged alphabetically within species groups.

Subgenus Iphimedeia

Species group hercules
- Morpho amphitryon Staudinger, 1887
- Morpho hercules (Dalman, 1823) – Hercules morpho
- Morpho richardus Fruhstorfer, 1898 – Richard's morpho
Species group hecuba
- Morpho cisseis C. Felder & R. Felder, 1860 – Cisseis morpho
- Morpho hecuba (Linnaeus, 1771) – sunset morpho
Species group telemachus
- Morpho telemachus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Morpho theseus Deyrolle, 1860 – Theseus morpho

Subgenus Iphixibia

Morpho anaxibia (Esper, 1801)

Subgenus Cytheritis

Species group sulkowskyi
- Morpho sulkowskyi – Sulkowsky's morpho
Species group lympharis
- Morpho lympharis Butler, 1873 – Lympharis morpho
Species group rhodopteron
- Morpho rhodopteron Godman & Salvin, 1880
Species group portis
- Morpho portis (Hübner, [1821])
- Morpho thamyris C. Felder & R. Felder, 1867 – Thamyris morpho – or as a subspecies of M. portis
Species group zephyritis
- Morpho zephyritis Butler, 1873 – Zephyritis morpho
Species group aega
- Morpho aega (Hübner, [1822]) – Aega morpho
Species group adonis
- Morpho eugenia Deyrolle, 1860 – Empress Eugénie morpho
- Morpho marcus (Cramer, 1775)
- Morpho uraneis Bates, 1865

Subgenus Balachowskyna

Morpho aurora – Aurora morpho

Subgenus Cypritis

Species group cypris
- Morpho cypris Westwood, 1851 – Cypris morpho
Species group rhetenor
- Morpho helena Staudinger, 1890 – Helena blue morpho
- Morpho rhetenor (Cramer, [1775]) – Rhetenor blue morpho

Subgenus Pessonia

Species group polyphemus
- Morpho luna Butler, 1869 or as subspecies Morpho polyphemus luna
- Morpho polyphemus Westwood, [1850] – (Polyphemus) white morpho
Species group catenaria
- Morpho catenarius Perry, 1811 or as a subspecies of M. epistrophus
- Morpho epistrophus (Fabricius, 1796) – Epistrophus white morpho
- Morpho laertes (Drury, 1782) may be a synonym of M. epistrophus

Subgenus Crasseia

Species group menelaus
- Morpho amathonte (Deyrolle, 1860) or as a subspecies of M. menelaus
- Morpho didius Hopffer, 1874 – giant blue morpho – or as a subspecies of M. menelaus
- Morpho godarti (Guérin-Méneville, 1844) – Godart's morpho – or as a subspecies of M. menelaus
- Morpho menelaus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Menelaus blue morpho

Subgenus Morpho

Species group deidamia
- Morpho deidamia (Hübner, [1819]) – Deidamia morpho
- Morpho granadensis Felder and Felder, 1867 – Granada morpho – or as a subspecies of M. deidamia
Species group helenor
- Morpho helenor (Cramer, 1776) – Helenor blue morpho or common blue morpho
- Morpho peleides Kollar, 1850 – Peleides blue morpho, common morpho, or the emperor
Species group achilles
- Morpho achilles (Linnaeus, 1758) – Achilles morpho

Ungrouped:

Morpho absoloni May, 1924
Morpho athena Otero, 1966
Morpho niepelti Röber, 1927

Images for kids

Common Morpho (Morpho helenor or Morpho peleides) butterfly
Morpho butterfly
Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides)
Morpho cypris
Morpho theseus is found in Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Honduras and Guatemala.
Peleides Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides) in the Wilhelma, Stuttgart, Germany.
Morpho Didius
Morpho peleides (Butterfly House in Vienna)
Morpho cypris
Blue Morpho
Morpho achilles patroclus
Iridescent colors of Morpho butterflies are caused by the specific nanostructures on their wings (SEM image at the bottom).
Atlantic Forest in Paraguay
M. didius – ventral side: Predatory birds aim their attack at the most prominent feature, the ocelli, missing the body entirely.
M. peleides, note the symmetric notches left by a bird beak
M. polyphemus, one of several "white morpho" species
M. richardus sunning itself for warmth
M. hecuba, the largest morpho, with a wingspan of up to 20 cm (7.9 in)
M. hecuba size comparison with M. thamyris (M. portis)
The closed wings of this morpho butterfly are damaged, allowing some of the blue to show.
Maria Sibylla Merian Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium 1705
Pieter Cramer and Caspar Stoll De Uitlandsche Kapellen 1775–1782
Pieter Cramer and Caspar Stoll De Uitlandsche Kapellen 1775–1782
George Shaw and Frederick Polydore NodderThe Naturalist's Miscellany 1789–1813
Hübner Sammlung exotischer Schmetterlinge Augsburg [1806-1841]
Hippolyte Lucas Histoire Naturelle des Lepidopteres Exotiques Paris,1835.
Cajetan and Rudolf Felder Reise der Österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859
Frederick DuCane Godman and Osbert Salvin Biologia Centrali-Americana 1879–1915
Adalbert Seitz Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 1860–1938