Blue Morpho

The Common Blue Morpho is a stunning butterfly that ranges from Mexico to northern South America.

Photo by Dawn Gordon

You might think that with a name like Blue Morpho, this butterfly would be blue. And our eyes definitely see it, but the iridescent color is a result of structural interference of the scales and is not from pigments. The scales that we see as being blue are actually translucent.Is it blue all over? Nope. The Blue Morpho is an expert at camouflage. When in flight we see the beautiful blue, but when the butterfly is resting you could walk right past it and not even notice there’s a butterfly near you. The underside of the wing is a dark brown with eye spot patterns.    

Snack TimeBlue Morphos patrol the edges of forests along streams and trails and visit decaying fruit and sap flows for nutrition. In our Butterfly House, they are kept happy with a supply of slightly stinky over-ripe fruit.Learn More Join us for Travel to the Tropics Saturday, January 27 and learn about other butterflies that you can find in our Butterfly House and their countries of origin.