Morpho peleides

MORPHO BUTTERFLY

Celeste camún, Morfo (S) Pépen (M)

Identification: They are easily recognized by their large, electric-blue wings, edged with chocolate brown. The wing’s underside is marked with big, brown circles called eye spots (DeVries 1987).

Habitat: Living in tropical wet and dry forest, they are often seen at the edges of water or along cuts of road.

Range: Morphos range from sea level to 1,400 m through Mexico down to northern Columbia and Venezuela (DeVries 1987).

Similar species: Six species from the Morpho genus are found in Central America (DeVries 1987).

IN THE MORNING hours, males flutter around puddles, streams, or pools of water, or sometimes chase each other along the edges of clearings. The larger females flutter and bob among the thicker vegetation during midday. It has been said that waving a blue silk scarf in the presence of a male morpho will bring him to you, although setting out a piece of banana might accomplish the same thing (DeVries 1987). Morphos can be seen year-round but are most common from April to May and August to November (Austin et al. 1995).

During the dry season, the female lays her eggs one by one and attaches them with a sticky liquid to the top side of old, well-shaded leaves. This is the plant in the vicinity of which the butterfly will spend the rest of its life. In less than a week the eggs hatch into larvae and begin their existence of consumption. First the larva eats the shell of the egg it just crawled out of. Then, at dawn and dusk, the larva chews through leaves and at all other hours of the day lies motionless on a leaf. A morpho larva changes from yellow to red, to brown, to yellow and red-striped over the course of its larval life. To counterbalance the attention than its bright colors may attract from predators, the larva emits a foul smell when bothered. Following the larval stage, the stuffed-with-plant-food larva weaves itself into a silken cocoon and begins its metamorphosis into a butterfly. The process from egg to adult takes about 110 days (Young 1972).

Stirring the air with its long antennae, the morpho tries to sense and locate blossoms of different trees. The morpho feeds on the nectar of flowers, the juices of decarying fruits, and sap from gashes in bark. It feeds on several species from the Leguminosae family, such as ixec subin trees (Lonchocarpus guatemalensis), which are found in the bajos and scattered in the upland forests (Lundell 1937). The bark of the trees in this genus was used in a fermented beverage drink by the ancient Maya, called balche. Morphos also feed on the nectar of ixcipix (Dalbergia glabra) blossoms (Young 1972), a liana that grows in tropical wet forests and whose durable, flexible bark is used as cord (Lundell 1937).

The morpho inserts a long thin rube into its food and sucks up nectar and juices. When feeding, the morpho presses its wings together, exposing their brown underside and blending into the jungle’s muted hues and gray shade. It is possible that when a falcon, lizard, or mammal tries to prey upon a morpho, the sudden sapphire-blue burst of its wings opening for flight momentarily distracts the predator, giving the morpho a chance of escape (DeVries 1987). Their fluttery bouncy flight makes them difficult to catch.

The ancient people of Mexico believed that warriors who died gloriously in battle were transformed into butterflies (Maza E. and Maza E. 19930). According to a more contemporary belief, certain species of butterflies entering one’s house forebode a death in one’s family.