Blue+morpho+butterfly

Blue Morpho Butterfly
Erica P.

Blue Morphos are a peaceful animal and very gentle. They are shy and beautiful with there wings that reflect light with shimering colors of green and blue.

[| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpho_(butterfly)]

Size: The Morphos range in wingspan from the 7.5 cm (3 inch) //M. rhodopteron// to the imposing 20 cm (8 inch)

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Diet:

The blue morpho’s diet changes during each stage of its lifecycle. As a caterpillar, the morpho chews plant leaves of many varieties, but prefers to dine on plants in the pea family. When the blue morpho becomes a butterfly it can no longer chew, but drinks its food instead. Adults use a long, protruding mouthpart called a proboscis as a drinking straw to sip the juice of rotting fruit, the fluids of decomposing animals, tree sap, fungi and wet mud. They taste fruit with sensors on their legs, and they "taste-smell" the air with their antennae, which serve as a combination tongues and noses. http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/resources/forest-facts/species-profiles/morpho_butterfly.html
 * Diet --**

Popualtion:

A Morpho butterfly may be one of over 80 described species of the genus Morpho. They are neotropical butterflies found mostly in South America as well as Mexico and Central America. [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpho_(butterfly)]

Lifespan: unknown.

Blue morphos live in the tropical forests of Latin America from Mexico to Colombia. Adults spend most of their time on the forest floor and in the lower shrubs and trees of the understory with their wings folded. However, when looking for mates, the blue morpho will fly through all layers of the forest. Humans most commonly see morphos in clearings and along streams where their bright blue wings are most visible. Pilots flying over rainforests have even encountered l arge groups of blue morphos above the treetops, warming themselves in the sun. The blue morpho’s entire lifespan lasts only 115 days, which means most of their time is spent eating and reproducing. http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/resources.cfm?id=blue_butterfly
 * Habitat**

Range: They are neotropical butterflies found mostly in South America as well as Mexico and Central America. [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpho_(butterfly)]