The Blue Morpho Butterfly
The Blue Morpho Butterfly lives in the tropical rainforests of Latin America. As one might expect from its name, the butterfly has bright blue wings with a black border. Underneath, the wing is brown, which helps the Blue Morpho Butterfly to blend into the environment and hide from predators. The brown against the blue coloring also causes a flying Blue Morpho to seemingly disappear and reappear as its wings go up and down.
Butterflies do not actually have pigmentation. Their wings are actually transparent and the colors we see come from scales on the back of the wings which reflect light. The Blue Morpho Butterfly is one of the world’s largest butterflies with a wingspan of 5 to 8 inches. The male butterfly is larger than the female. It is one of 80 different types of Morpho butterflies.
These colorful butterflies begin as an egg which is laid on the leaves of rainforest plants.
When the larva or caterpillar emerges from the egg, it is brightly colored in reds and yellows. There are stiff hairs on its head that can irritate a human hand or anything else that touches them. After the caterpillar has eaten for several weeks it forms the pupa, which is green and shaped like an egg. By the time the adult Blue Morpho Butterfly erupts from the pupa, it will have less than a month to live.
The Blue Morpho Butterfly lives for the most part in the lower parts of the rainforest, in shrubs and on the forest floor. When looking for a mate the butterfly will fly to all parts of the rainforest, and like most butterflies their entire adult focus is on reproduction. Although they live longer than many butterflies, the Blue Morpho still only has a lifespan of 115 days.
As with other species, the Blue Morpho Butterfly eats different things in each stage of its life cycle. In its caterpillar form, the butterfly eats several different plants but particularly seeks out those in the pea family. Adults do not eat nectar like many of the butterflies that live further north. Instead, the Blue Morpho has a proboscis, a mouth part that sticks out with which he can puncture rotten fruit to draw out the juices. In addition, they eat tree sap, mud, and varying kinds of fungi in this same way.
In addition to its natural predators such as birds and jaguars, the Blue Morpho Butterfly is pursued by human collectors who want to display them in glass cases. They are also used in the making of jewelry. This butterfly, like other insects and animals, is threatened by the deforestation of the rainforests which may eventually cause it to become extinct.