BajaNomad

Encounter with a buttefly: Morpho menelaus

academicanarchist - 10-24-2004 at 08:38 AM

If you have looked at my photos of the Jesuit missions in South America, you will note that several are heavily over grown with trees and other vegetation. At two of the forested sites, I had chance encounters with a butterfly with blue wings bordered by black. I found this photo on the Internet. I was talking a couple of weeks ago with a butterfly specialist, who identified it as Morpho menelaus, a common butterfly that lives from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, in rain forests. I saw it in the southernmost part of its range, and it was spectacular. Really caught my attention.

elgatoloco - 10-24-2004 at 09:30 AM

We have chased a cousin, Morpho peleides- Blue Morpho, thru the rain forest in Costa Rica. When at rest the wings fold together and look like a leaf with brown and black markings unlike the striking blue on the wings. Spectacular for sure.