Blue Morpho Butterfly

By: Maggie

         One of the most amazing animals in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America is the Blue Morpho Butterfly (Morpho Menelaus). Its amazing blue wings that can reflect light make it not only amazing but also beautiful.

          Blue Morphos go through drastic changes in their appearance. They are born as red-brown caterpillars with lime-green patches on its back. Like all butterflies, they then turn into a pupa and after several weeks are "born again", but this time as beautiful butterflies. They have a wingspan of 13-17 cm (7 in), bright blue wings with tiny brown dots along the edges. The underside of their wings is colored like the foliage. A very interesting fact about their appearance is that their wings are composed of tiny reflective scales that will help it survive in its dangerous habitat while looking for food.
          Blue Morphos would never be good pets because they need to live in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America where there is a humidity level of 70-88% and an average temperature of 85 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). They live in the canopy layer but often venture into the forest floor. They do this in order to find the rotten fruits they like to drink the juice from. The two most interesting facts about their feeding are that they taste food with their legs and that they are cannibals as caterpillars. Their cannibalism is their only threat.
          Blue Morpho Butterflies have several predators. They are: baby jaguars that kill them thinking it's all a game, birds, and fish when they are near water. But their worst nightmare are humans like you and me who venture into their peaceful habitat to catch them and sell them in glass cases to people who will hang them on a wall and won't even care when it falls and breaks. Through out the centuries they have fought for survival.
          In order to survive they have had to go through several changes. The underside of their wings is the same color as foliage in order to camouflage when they crypsis (fold wings when resting so the only the underside shows). Even though, it has been forced to change its life style in order to protect itself. It has learned to fly in a very unusual way so that the blue side of their wings shows only once in a while and very quickly. A very interesting fact about how they protect themselves is that they flash the bright blue side of their wings in the face of baby jaguars and blind them. They take so much care of themselves and yet they are terrible parents.
           Butterflies live to reproduce, they reproduce and die shortly after laying eggs. Male butterflies release chemicals called pheromones in their wings and attract as many females as possible. The female's eggs are fertilized, they lay them in a safe place and flies off. The eggs will hatch after about nine days. The young caterpillars face many dangers and have no one to protect them. Many caterpillars die, either because of their cannibal siblings or because of their natural predators. Yet, there are enough for us to kill.
          As mentioned in the above paragraph, many caterpillars die and many more butterflies are killed. Even though, they are not endangered. There are still many Blue Morpho butterflies laying eggs. They will eventually become extinct if we continue cutting down the tropical rainforests in which they thrive and killing them to hang in our room. It may be amazing how hard they have fought for survival but there are many more interesting facts.
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          One of the most interesting facts about Blue Morphos is that there are 50 different species of Morpho butterflies. All of them are very similar, the only difference being their wing color and/or size. Another interesting fact is that they are called Morpho butterflies because the underside of their wings is the same color as a moth's wings. This might all sound very interesting and amazing, but here comes the most interesting fact of all.
          As I said before, Blue Morpho butterflies live to reproduce. Their life span is one of the shortest. They live for only 115 days on average. Their time as a caterpillar takes up most of those 115 days. Their time as a butterfly is strictly dedicated to reproduction.
          Now that you have learned so much about the Blue Morpho butterfly, it's time you did something to protect its habitat. Thus saving not only Blue Morphos but also many more animals from the rainforest and our greatest reservoir of oxygen. All you need to do is join or donate money to an organization that dedicates specially to saving the Blue Morpho and other tropical rainforest animals.
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