Description
Three blue morphos glowing inside an antique shadow box I reworked into a backlit display. Their electric blue wings aren’t from pigment at all, but from microscopic scales that bend light into color. The soft brown undersides hold eyespots meant to fool predators, while the illuminated frame turns them into a quiet tropical sky suspended in glass.
The Blue Morpho or Morpho peleides is one of the largest and most recognizable blue butterfly species in the world. Found in Mexico, Central, and South America with a wingspan of 5 to 8 inches, its brilliant blue color is caused by light diffraction, not pigment, and the underside of its wings has “eyespots” to deter predators. This species like most butterflies, exhibits sexual dimorphism where males are more vibrant than females. Adults feed on rotting fruit and fly mostly during the day in tropical forests.
Scientific Classification:
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Morpho
Species: M. peleides
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.