Kingdom Animalia Order Lepidoptera Genus Morpho Rank Species | Phylum Arthropoda Family Nymphalidae Scientific name Morpho menelaus Higher classification Morpho | |
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Similar Morpho, Butterfly, Morpho peleides, Butterflies and moths, Insect | ||
Morpho menelaus, the Menelaus blue morpho, is an iridescent tropical butterfly of Central and South America. It has a wing span of 15 cm (5.9 in). The adult drinks juice from rotten fruit with its long proboscis, which is like a sucking tube. The adult males have brighter colours than the females.
Contents
Morpho menelaus is a very large butterfly, with a wingspan of approximately 138 mm. The forewing is concave at the outer edge. The upperside of wings are metallic blue. The underside is brown with a line of large ocelli at the base of the postdiscal area.
Range
Morpho butterflies are Neotropical butterflies found mostly in Central America as well as Mexico and South America including Brazil, Costa Rica and Venezuela.
Subspecies
The subspecies are:
Biology
The nocturnal larvae are red brown with bright patches of lime green or yellow. They are known to feed on Erythroxylum pulchrum and Machaerium, and are also highly cannibalistic. The Morpho butterfly drinks its food rather than eat 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. They 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. The adults dwell in the forest canopy layer and rarely come near the understorey and forest floor layers; however, they have sometimes been observed flying near the ground in clearings.
Similar species
It is similar in range and colouration to the Peleides blue morpho (Morpho peleides).
Etymology
Morpho menelaus was named in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus (as Papilio menelaus) to honour the Greek mythological figure Menelaus, a king of Ancient Sparta.