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Jaime Nywening July 18, 2007 jme_nywening@yahoo.com Blue Morpho Butterflies Where do Blue Morpho butterflies live? South America Mexico Central America Why I Chose The Blue Morpho The Blue Mopho is one of the most beautiful and fascinating creatures I have ever seen!
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Jaime NyweningJuly 18, 2007jme_nywening@yahoo.com Blue Morpho Butterflies
Where do Blue Morpho butterflies live? • South America • Mexico • Central America
Why I Chose The Blue Morpho • The Blue Mopho is one of the most beautiful and fascinating creatures I have ever seen! • Its shimmery colors are eye catching, and bright blue is one of my favorite colors!
Cool Facts about Blue Morpho Butterflies: • One of the largest butterflies in the world • the extremely fine scales covering the Morpho's wings reflect light. • Morphos range in wingspan from the 7.5 cm (3 inch) to the imposing 20 cm • Have wings that are bright blue, edged with black • Many Morpho butterflies are colored in metallic, shimmering shades of blue and green. • Blue coloring on the back of their wings reflect light • Male’s wings are broader and brighter than those of females • Brightest insect in the world • The iridescent wings are used in the manufacture of jewelry and as inlay in woodworking. • Structure and color are being used as models for new fabrics, dye-paints, and anti-counterfeit technology
Blue Morphos Life Cycle Stages in the Life Cycle: Egg Larva (caterpillar) Pupa (chrysalis) Imago (adult butterfly)
Blue Morpho Eating Habits When in the stage of a caterpiller, it chews on many different kinds of leaves. When it becomes a butterfly, it can no longer chew and instead drinks its food.
Blue Morphos Diet and Favorite Plants Diet: • Juice of rotting fruit • Fluids of decomposing animals • Tree sap • Fungi • Wet mud Favorite Flowers or Plants: • Plants in the pea family • Leguminous Plants • Mucuna Plants • Peanut Plants
What Eats the Blue Morpho? Defense Against Predators: • The underside of Morpho’s wings is a dull brown color with many eyespots, providing camouflage Predators: • Jacamar Birds • Flycatcher Birds
Resources Wikipedia http://wikipedia.org/ Butterfly Jungle http://butterflyjungle.bz/ourbutterflies.html Rainforest Alliance Learning Site www.rainforest-alliance.org/learningsite Rainforest Exploration http://www.earthsbirthday.org/explore/teachers/infobluemorpho.htm