Blue Morpho Butterfly

Nature 3 Minutes

A Morpho Butterfly (Morpho menelaus), is one of over 80 described species of butterflies that reside in the rainforests. Morpho butterflies are neotropical butterflies found mostly in Central America as well as Mexico and South America including Brazil, Costa Rica and Venezuela. Morpho Butterflies dwell in the forest canopy layer and rarely come near the under story and forest floor layers.

However, they have sometimes been observed flying near the ground in clearings.

Morpho Butterfly Characteristics

Morpho butterflies range in wingspan from the 3 inches to the larger 8 inches of the Sunset Morpho (M. hecuba).

Many Morpho butterflies are colored in metallic, shimmering shades of blue and green on the upper wing surface. The underside of the wings resembles foliage, with mottled brown, greys, blacks and reds. The female Morpho butterfly is less vivid than the male. The males bright coloring is designed to intimidate any rivals that might fly into his territory. The male’s wings reflect the bright, iridescent color over an extremely wide angle, to maximize its visibility in the rainforest.

These colors are not a result of pigmentation but rather are an example of iridescence (an optical phenomenon characterized as the property of surfaces in which hue changes according to the angle from which the surface is viewed). The colors produced vary with viewing angle, however they are actually surprisingly uniform, perhaps due to the tetrahedral (diamond-like) structural arrangement of the scales. This structure may be called a ‘photonic crystal’.

The ventral side is decorated with ‘ocelli’ or eyespots. Not all Morpho butterflies have iridescent coloration, however, they all have ocelli. The eyes of Morpho butterflies are thought to be highly sensitive to UV light and therefore the males are able to see each other from great distances.

There also exists a number of white Morpho species. An unusual species that is white in coloration, but which exhibits a stunning purple iridescence when viewed at certain angles. The metallic blue Morpho species (M. rhetenor) stands out as the most iridescence of all.

Morpho Butterfly Habitat

Morpho butterflies are forest dwellers but will venture into sunny clearings in order to warm themselves. Males are territorial and will chase any would-be rivals.

Morpho Butterfly Diet

The Morpho butterfly drinks its food rather than eats it. It uses its proboscis (long, protruding mouth part) to drink sap and fruit juices. Morpho butterflies taste with sensors on their legs and taste-smell the air with their antennae. Morpho butterflies feed on the juices of fermenting fruit with which they may also be lured. The inebriated butterflies wobble in flight and are easy to catch. Morphos will also feed on the bodily fluids of dead animals and on fungi. Therefore, Morpho butterflies may be important in dispersing fungal spores.

Morpho Butterfly Behavior

Morpho butterflies are diurnally active (active during the day) and have the capability of ‘crypis’, meaning when they sleep at night, they fold their wings so that only the dark underside is seen, making them less visible to predators. It also has a ‘flashing’ defense mechanism, meaning, due to the slow beating pace of their wings, the iridescent blue is flashed and then disappears as the wings are raised only to return in another place in a short while. This causes predators to lose track of the Morpho butterfly when it is flying as they only glimpse blue flashes as the brown underside makes them invisible in the thick foliage of the jungle.

Morpho Butterfly Reproduction

Like all butterflies, Morpho butterflies pass through four distinct phases of metamorphosis.

First, the pale green eggs that resemble dewdrops hatch into larvae, better known as caterpillars. The caterpillar is red-brown with bright patches of lime-green on its back and has stinging hairs. The hairy brown caterpillars feed on a variety of leguminous plants (a simple dry fruit which develops from a simple carpel and usually opens along a seam on two sides). In some species the caterpillars are cannibalistic. If disturbed, some Morpho caterpillars will secrete a fluid smelling of rancid butter. The tufts of hair decorating the caterpillars have been recorded to irritate human skin.

After a while, the caterpillars wrap themselves in a protective enclosure, called a chrysalis. At this stage the insects are called pupae. After some time, pupation ends and the mature butterfly emerges from its chrysalis.

The entire life cycle of the Morpho butterfly, from egg to death, is approximately 137 days. The adults live for about a month. They have few predators as the adults are poisonous due to the feeding caterpillar sequestering poisonous compounds (the process of animals accumulating poisonous compounds from the food they are eating in order to become poisonous themselves for their predators). But like all butterflies, adult morphos were plant-chomping caterpillars as youngsters. Blue morpho caterpillars are especially fond of leaves in the pea family.

SOURCE: ANIMAL CORNER

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Published by pat frederick

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205 thoughts on “Blue Morpho Butterfly”

  1. Good morning, Miss Pat! That last photo of the blue Morpho butterflies is stunning – gorgeous – reminds me of a Tiffany window!

    Like

      1. Hoo-boy – It wasn’t an easy weekend.

        Last night, after rejecting two computers we ordered, and ordering a 3rd that Sally Q picked out, she’s telling me to send it back. And her other caregiver is out sick with possible flu or covid. We are not showing any signs of whatever she has. I’ve got a full supply of IVM, HCQ, Quercetin, etc. handy just in case.

        We never know what each day will bring.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Morning, Pat! 22 here this morning and I’ve got to get to a store today, walking or riding, once I shovel my way out. Snow is in drifts even on my patio. Mark plowed my driveway again last evening. I just wish I could use it! Hope you can get out for your hair cut. Gorgeous butterflies!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Morning Filly!
        we’re currently at 8*. supposed to go up to 36* today–I’ll believe it when i see it.
        the next week after that is rain/wintery mix and snow
        any sign of Wheezer?
        please be very careful if you walk!!!!!

        Liked by 1 person

        1. I haven’t looked out on the patio yet this morning but there were still no prints in the snow when I covered the doors last night.

          We’re supposed to get rain Wednesday into Thursday, possibly sleet/snow mix. Still above freezing temps but just barely. We’ll see what happens. I can get much of what I really need here for the most part, it just costs quite a bit more since they don’t carry large sizes. Like individual-size creamer instead of the half-gallon size – that small one costs the same as the larger one would in Norfolk.

          I might time it so I can ride with Mark & Denise when they go back to work after lunch so I’ll only have to walk back. Chances are, I can also find a ride back home, depending on who’s around. I am familiar with a lot of people by sight, having worked at SM & the Legion, and they know me by sight. For that matter, I could probably get one of the morning coffee drinkers @ SM to give me a ride, too. I’ll work it out – I always do! LOL

          Liked by 1 person

  9. Feisty Hayseed
    Feisty Hayseed
    January 22, 2024 1:18 am

    FBI convicted, once again, of Entrapment

    US judge condemns FBI while ordering release of man in ‘Newburgh Four’ case

    Four men, who became known as the “Newburgh Four,” were caught up in a scheme in 2009 to attack the synagogues and community center, and launch stinger missiles at military aircraft, driven by what the judge describes as overzealous FBI agents and an “unsavory” confidential informant.

    U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon had already ordered the three other men in the group – Onta Williams, David Williams and Laguerra Payen – to be released last July.

    The fourth man, James Cromitie, described as the ringleader by the government, was ordered released by the judge on Friday.

    The judge called the case “notorious” and described the men as “hapless” petty criminals who were “easily manipulated” by the government in a sting operation.

    “The three men were recruited so that Cromitie could conspire with someone,” the judge said. “The real lead conspirator was the United States. …. The FBI invented the conspiracy; identified the targets; manufactured the ordnance.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-judge-condemns-fbi-while-ordering-release-of-man-in-newburgh-four-case/ar-BB1h072n

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Charlotte99
    Charlotte99
    January 22, 2024 5:31 am

    Report: Former CIA man had $60 million contract from Qatar regime to provide “spy services” against Americans opposed to Hamas.

    Went after congressmen Ted Cruz, & Tom Cotton for trying to outlaw Muslim Brotherhood during Trump admin.

    Exclusive: Alleged Qatar spy operation said to have targeted GOP lawmakers opposed to Muslim Brotherhood

    ‘An attack on Hamas is an attack on Qatar. An attack on the Muslim Brotherhood is an attack on Qatar,’ document states

    https://www.foxnews.com/world/exclusive-alleged-qatar-spy-operation-said-to-have-targeted-gop-lawmakers-opposed-to-muslim-brotherhood

    Liked by 2 people

  14. Novak ignored the jeers and totally burned them! What a superb athlete – top condition – he moves like a well-oiled machine.

    Liked by 2 people

  16. Charlotte99
    Charlotte99
    January 22, 2024 8:02 am

    Senator Demands to Know Who at Treasury Department Approved Search of ‘Religious Texts’ by Financial Institutions

    A key member of the Senate Banking Committee probes Treasury’s request for transaction-level searches ‘indicative of extremism’ for Jan. 6 investigation.

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/senator-demands-to-know-who-in-treasury-department-approved-search-of-religious-texts-by-financial-institutions-5570237?src_src=morningbriefnoe&src_cmp=mb-2024-01-22&est=qHcwAzRIYbWqM6hhE6S97Q2kX8toF3TAJq3ZMZlMJPvYtCWnoX6n%2FjR9wGK9LQ%3D%3D

    Liked by 1 person

  18. what utter rhetoric and bullshit…rhonda is a competent man without baggage? SAYS WHO??????
    FTA
    By driving from the race a competent man without baggage, the neo-Marxist leftists have just succeeded in turning 2024 into an existential election, with far more on the line than just who will be President, whether it’s the Orange Man who can’t control himself (according to Democrats) or the utterly corrupt Biden crime syndicate, now being led by a cabal of puppet masters (according to the facts).

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/01/with_desantis_out_democrats_are_getting_what_they_want.html

    Liked by 1 person

  19. this is a lack of seriousness in the oath and the job because we allow creatures such as this into our gov’t. they mock it all.
    In November 2017, Democrat Daniel “Danica” Roem defeated incumbent Republican Bob Marshall for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, but there’s a kicker….

    Roem’s wasn’t shy about his mental illness, publicizing his fetishes and kinks and embracing a new “identity” (but really just dressing in drag), and it was a core aspect of his campaign—Roem had become the first “transgender” state representative in U.S. history, and his election was celebrated as an LGBTQ++ “victory.”

    Then last fall, Roem won a new race, this time in the state senate, and he revealed in a recent interview his intention to be sworn in with his hand on a heavy metal album rather than the Bible, as is a long-standing tradition.

    In the aforementioned interview, recently published by LGBTQ Nation, Roem stated that he would be swearing in on a 1988 vinyl copy of his favorite Metallica album, And Justice For All. Daniel Danica seems to have taken his her oath to get sworn in on the Metallica album far more seriously than he she took the Oath of Office itself.

    Roem has since been sworn in, though no details about the ceremony have been forthcoming. While it is not mandatory under Virginia law to be sworn in on a Bible, it has been customary to do so for most of the state’s existence.

    Roem’s stunt is illustrative of the lack of faith and reverence that has taken hold amongst younger, increasingly non-traditional Americans. Transgenderism is itself simultaneously hyper-fashionable and a rejection of God’s will. And there also seems to be a trend building of elected officials being sworn into office on things other than a Bible.

    There is a reason why Bibles have historically been used to swear people into office. It is because it has been thought that most folks would be more likely to keep a promise, or oath, if that promise is effectively made to God, rather than to a human or group thereof. You know, the Ten Commandments, Heaven and Hell, etc. Hence the phrase, meant to get at the truth, “Do you swear on a stack of Bibles?”

    But, what the Hell, the times they are a-changin’. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib were sworn in on Qurans. I’m sure that soon we will see officials sworn in on National Geographics, Playboy magazines, the Epstein files, a box of Tide detergent, or a stack of Archie comic books, amongst other materials. Swear your fealty to God, the American people, your office, the Constitution, or Betty and/or Veronica. It doesn’t really matter much anymore, does it?

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/01/virginia_official_swornin_on_metallica_album.html

    Like

  20. randyinrocklin
    January 22, 2024 8:38 am

    Well now lookie here 4 RINO Senators voted with Democrats to slap an carbon tax on energy producing states. Kevin Cramer, ND. Cynthia Lummis WY, John Boozman, AR, and Linsey Graham. They need to be PRIMARIED!

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Nycjoe
    January 22, 2024 8:34 am

    Here is a problem – UK Daily mail terrible story – Chicago Father shoots dead his wife and 3 “high achieving daughters In their early 20s “ Horrible -and calls 911 to turn himself in- Farther name Majeda Kassem … motive unknown …you know actual reason -so called “honor killing s” (terrible name for this kind of barbarism)— westernized /high achieving Daughters …. There is the clue ..How can anybody do that ….

    Liked by 1 person

  23. Sliding down…..damn! Just looked out on the patio and Wheezer was here at some point – pawprints. I can see he was on the fleece chair at some point since the snow there is disturbed. I’ve put his food dish out and called for him – hopefully, he’ll be back.

    Liked by 1 person

      2. I brought the fleece in after shaking off the snow – it’s hanging in the shower to thaw out, then I’ll put it in the dryer and put it back out nice and warm just in case….

        Liked by 1 person

  27. Wow! They’ve made a lot of progress since the days when I had gay friends! Back then, they tucked their dick up between their butt cheeks! Progress! Gotta love it! NOT!!!! I do NOT advocate actually watching this unless you feel like puking….

    Liked by 1 person

  29. “The hangman’s noose has been fashioned. On whose neck is it to be fitted?”
    By Charles Martel —— Bio and Archives–January 22, 2024

    EXCERPTS: “Immigration, climate change, globalization…Like poisonous snakes, the various themes, in macro and micro, foreign and domestic, continue to intertwine, weaving themselves into a hangman’s rope, with the only question being whose neck is the noose to be fitted? I don’t know the outcome, but I’m certain this year is the last opportunity to avoid global-scale cataclysm. The fulcrum by which history will be decided is the United States, and the coming election is what will tip the balance.
    ————
    None of these enemies are new, but all of them are aware that the US is a divided nation. Its intelligence apparatus is more concerned with diversity training and identifying and punishing Trump supporters than protecting the country; staff officers in the armed forces believe white supremacy poses the greatest threat to America, not foreign enemies, and the capacity to wage, let alone win a war on multiple fronts is doubtful.

    The country’s economy is in shambles, with worse to come because of an inability to tame inflation and the present administration’s refusal to let the country avail itself of cheap energy, and a determination to continue to allow poverty to pour over the border. In short, our enemies see we are weak and poorly led, and they emerged from their caves.
    ————
    Conservatives and capitalists were like parents who spoil a badly behaving child. They simply patted the brat on the head, never realizing that in surrendering one institution after another, eventually, the institutions would be wholly owned, entirely run by the brats who’d been indulged. The left continued its long march.

    By the beginning of this century all the pieces were assembled and in position on the board. The election of Barack Obama, a fake, a phony, a cipher of no substance and steeped in garden variety faculty lounge toxic bullshit was awarded supreme power; he became the glue to the pieces. The picture emerged and Obama was the flashing light signal for a power lusting left, thought to be buried since the fall of the Soviet Union, to make its grab for the brass ring.”
    ————
    Trump and his movement pose the left an existential threat. In power again, having seen the left exposed, Trump could and will begin an extirpation and destruction of the Deep State and academia that would, at least, set the globalist one-world socialist movement back for a generation, and might possibly destroy it for many decades to come.

    Movements similar to MAGA have come alive in Europe and South America: Hungary, Sweden, Italy and Argentina have governments created in response to progressive overreach; France and Germany threaten to do the same. Japan and India have let it be known they will not ride the globalist train. Still, all will, finally, live or die according to what happens in America. If there is no magnetic pole pulling in opposition to the tyrannous regimes, resistance will eventually become impossible. China, Iran and Russia will be left to determine the direction of the world. I suspect China would win that fight, but don’t discount a billion Muslims. On the other hand, what’s left won’t be worth owning.

    At present, with respect to foreign enemies, our greatest strength is their weakness. The Chinese and Russians are demographic time bombs and their technology is not equal to that of the US. Iran is a Tenth Century basket base at the mercy of mad men who are hated by the majority of their countrymen. For the present, our superior system has kept us elevated….”

    https://canadafreepress.com/article-video/the-hangmans-noose-has-been-fashioned-on-whose-neck-is-it-to-be-fitted

    Liked by 1 person

  30. Oh, my! She has NOT aged well….

    EXCERPT: “Sarah Ferguson has revealed she is being treated for skin cancer, just months after she underwent a mastectomy for breast cancer, and days after the British royal family was hit by a double health scare affecting King Charles and Kate Middleton.

    The duchess’ malignant melanoma was only identified after dermatologists carrying out reconstructive breast surgery after her breast cancer spotted suspicious moles. Tests, which only came through days after Christmas, revealed one mole was malignant.

    A friend of the duchess told The Daily Beast: “It’s just unbelievably bad luck, really. She has been incredibly brave about the breast cancer, and I’m sure she will be just as brave about this. Hopefully, they have caught it really early.” Her medical team are now trying to establish if the cancer has spread….”

    British Royal Sarah Ferguson Announces She Has Cancer AGAIN

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Alrighty then….my sweet neighbor will give me a ride to the store later today, around 1 pm. It will be warmer by then so my walk back won’t be so bad and, like I said, I may run into someone who offers me a ride. So it’s all good! I’ll get enough so that I’ll be ok if I can’t get to Norfolk on Wednesday.

    Liked by 1 person

  32. I finally ventured out to the patio to sweep away some of the snow for a clear spot for Wheezer’s food dish. I also took some pics from the back door – this is the exterior to my patio….just enough room for Wheezer to get to the door. See that black bungee lying in the snow? When I took the feeders down, there was too much snow for me to get the WP feeder, which requires the step stool – I tried squeezing thru the door to cut the bungees so I could at least take the cage off. Scissors wouldn’t cut them but I did unhook them from the cage and brought it in. The wind took one off, the other one is still hanging there.

    How’s this for an icicle???

    Liked by 1 person

  35. Whoopee! I called my yard guy and got a couple of #’s of 2 people who shovel snow. The one guy has a tractor, which wouldn’t work here. But the other guy is the owner of Keystone Bar here – I have met both him and his wife. They were the ones who sponsored the benefit for a young boy here who was hit on his bicycle crossing Hwy 20 (he is the grandson of Jim & Pearl, the people I worked with at the Legion). I donated a bunch of my Mom’s pictures, some she painted as well as others, and some other things for the benefit. I heard Sherry ask who it was in the background and when he said my name, she remembered that. He will be here around noon so it will be done before Mark/Denise pick me up.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. good for you!
      i “shovel” our deck and ramp–but it’s merely pushing the snow off and onto the lawn below…so not lifting it.
      sitting here now, i can see some of the snow that was hung up on the roof is starting to come down…so i might be “shoveling” tomorrow if it’s not raining.
      i doubt it will be light enough when we get back this afternoon for me to want to do it then.

      Liked by 1 person

  37. Liked by 1 person

  39. EXCERPT: “The men went missing during a mission targeting a ship off the coast of Somalia that was illegally transporting Iranian-made weapons to Houthi terrorists in Yemen.

    The SEALs boarded the vessel in rough seas the evening of Jan. 11, but two service members went missing after high waves knocked off one SEAL and his teammate went to rescue him, according to the Associated Press.

    The mission to confiscate items from the vessel resulted in the seizure of “propulsion, guidance, and warheads for Houthi medium range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) and anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs), as well as air defense associated components,” according to CENTCOM.

    The Houthis in Yemen have increased their attacks against international merchant ships in the Red Sea since Oct. 7, 2023, in support of Hamas in its fight against Israel.”

    https://justthenews.com/government/security/rescue-operation-ends-two-navy-seals-now-presumed-dead-after-mission-seize-iran

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Oh shit! If you do get out today, get what you need while you can, eh? I just got back. Mark is so nice – he dropped me at the grocery store, picked up his Mom for her doctor appointment, then came back and picked me up. He also took me by Casey’s so I could get more cigs in case I don’t get to Norfolk before bringing me home.

        A bottle of RumChata for his wife is definitely on my list when I do get to Norfolk. And my front walkway and porch is clear too. I’m all set! Maybe I’ll try a bit later to get the door open in back far enough that I can put out one feeder at least.

        Mark said he heard it’s supposed to get up to 40 later this week – that will take care of the worst of the snow. As long as my truck starts, I should be ok w/o having to ask someone for a ride. Hope the gas tank didn’t freeze up.

        Like

  44. EXCERPT: “A Superior Court judge in Georgia on Monday unsealed the divorce case involving Nathan Wade, the Fulton County special prosecutor handling the 2020 alleged election interference case against former President Trump under Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

    Previously, court filings from one of Trump’s codefendants alleged that Willis and Wade were engaged in an improper romantic relationship and benefitted financially from the at the expense of Georgia taxpayers.

    Willis hired Wade, her purported romantic partner, to prosecute Trump. He was paid nearly $654,000 in legal fees from January 2022 through December 2023, according to the court filing from defendant.

    A court filing from Wade’s former spouse in the divorce case showed that he purchased airline tickets for himself and Willis for trips to San Francisco, Miami and Aruba, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution….”

    https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/judge-unseals-divorce-case-involving-georgia-prosecutor-case

    Liked by 1 person

  45. “Cultural Marxism and The Timeline of Transgenderism — Barack Obama began engineering transgenderism as a mechanism, tool and weapon of cultural Marxism beginning in 2009 and in 2024, Michelle Obama will be its beneficiary.”
    POLITICAL MOONSHINE
    JAN 22, 2024

    EXCERPT: “In the last article, we reasoned that the trans agenda was a component in the application of cultural Marxism to U.S. society. We reached those findings by relying upon substantial existing analysis and evidence that is discussed below and which is overlaid by evidence of a resurgence from Michelle Obama to become the 2024 Democratic Party nominee.

    In summary with the details below, “transgenderism”[and “transphobia”] is going to become a pillar in any Michelle campaign. This is because a clear political timeline exists to evidence how the transgender agenda was hijacked by politics. Transgenderism was hijacked for the Intelligence Community to be used as the contextual component inside of perception management operations.

    Those operations, which are more commonly known as “psyops,” are designed to apply cultural Marxism to the population in a broader effort to overthrow and convert the United States to a communist nation under Globalist control. In other words, Marxist communism is the chosen enforcement mechanism to keep the slaves in line and producing while Globalist elites tyrannically rule by their credence of “rules for thee but not for me”.

    Therein, transgenderism is a herding and bullying component of cultural Marxism in the form of a mechanism, tool and weapon. That’s the long explanation for saying that the transgenderism agenda is cultural Marxism.

    Major Premise….”

    https://politicalmoonshine.substack.com/p/cultural-marxism-and-the-timeline

    Liked by 1 person

  46. EXCERPT: “Top pharmaceutical companies raised the list price on 775 brand-name drugs in just the first half of January, even as President Joe Biden aims to keep prices low, according to The Wall Street Journal.

    The median price hike of the drugs was around 4.5%, with some rising by 10% or more, despite an inflation rate of 3.4% year-over-year in December, according to data from 46brooklyn Research acquired by the WSJ. The price hikes are in contrast to the president’s efforts to tame rising drug prices, taking actions such as imposing automatic rebates to Medicare for drugmakers that raise their prices faster than the price of inflation, which first went into effect in December, affecting 48 drugs covered under Medicare Part B.

    Dozens of commonly used drugs were the victims of price increases, including Ozempic and Mounjaro, according to the WSJ. Drug maker Novo Nordisk noted that changes to list prices are in response to factors like market conditions and rising costs from inflation.

    Some experts predict that in response to the Biden administration’s attempt at controlling prices, drug manufacturers will raise prices on those with private insurance and also set list prices initially higher to circumvent price hike restrictions…..”

    https://tennesseestar.com/economy/big-pharma-raises-hundreds-of-drug-prices-despite-biden-admin-efforts-to-keep-costs-down/admin/2024/01/19/

    Liked by 1 person

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