Butterflies of
the Amazon and Andes
Sickle-winged
Morpho
Morpho rhetenor cacica
STAUDINGER, 1876
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
MORPHINAE
Tribe - MORPHINI
subtribe - MORPHINA
Morpho
rhetenor cacica,
Satipo, Peru
Introduction
It is a source of amusement to lepidopterists that the general public in Latin
America always refer to every one of the
Morpho species as if they were just one creature - "the Blue Morpho".
There are in fact at least 29 described species, possibly more, as the status of some
subspecies is
contended by some taxonomists who consider they should be elevated to the
rank of full species.
The dazzling blue wings of Morpho
butterflies are enormous relative to their body size, resulting in a very
distinctive slow, bouncy flight pattern. The effect is that the brilliant
blue upperside appears to flash like a beacon as it alternates in
flight with the dark undersurface. This makes it difficult for a bird to follow the flight.
If attacked when on the wing, the slow lazy flight pattern instantly changes
into a wild swooping evasive manoeuvre, following which the butterfly dives into
the forest where it instantly settles. A pursuing bird is still of course
searching for a brilliant blue insect, but the
Morpho snaps it's wings shut, displaying the dark
brown underside and foiling the bird's search
program. If the bird does manage to spot the settled butterfly it invariably aims its attack at the most prominent feature - in this case the ocelli,
missing the body entirely and allowing the butterfly to escape.
The intense dazzling colour of
Morpho rhetenor is impossible to convey in a
photograph. The words of DeVries used to describe the
closely related species cypris are highly appropriate: "The sight of this sailing blue orb against a rainforest background is truly
one of the most stunningly beautiful in the neotropics". The legendary naturalist Henry Walter Bates
described the flight of rhetenor equally well: "When it comes sailing along it occasionally
flaps its wings and then the blue surface flashes in the sunlight so that it is
visible a quarter of a mile away".
Morpho
rhetenor is a
widespread and fairly common species found from Colombia and Venezuela to Peru,
Brazil and Bolivia. There are 6 described subspecies, of which 2 occur in Peru -
cacica and helena. In
Central America rhetenor is replaced by a similar
species Morpho cypris.
Morpho
rhetenor cacica,
Satipo, Peru
Habitats
Morpho rhetenor is found in lowland rainforest and
in the foothills of the eastern Andes, at altitudes between
0-1000m.
Morpho
rhetenor cacica,
Satipo, Peru
Lifecycle
The egg is hemispherical
and pale green with a broken reddish ring around the upper half. It is laid
singly on Inga ( Mimosaceae ). The fully grown
larva is reddish with many fine olive and black lines, 2 large oval yellow
patches on the back, and a pair of short tail prongs. It possesses a gland
behind the head, which exudes a volatile odour if the larva is molested. The
chrysalis is ovoid, smooth and pale green.
Adult behaviour
As with
most Morpho species, males spend the
mornings
patrolling back and forth along the courses of streams and rivers. On warm
sunny afternoons
they can sometimes be found imbibing moisture from
damp sand, visiting sap runs, or feeding at rotting fruit. When feeding or resting the
wings are kept firmly closed, but are erratically flicked open and
shut in response to disturbance by ants and wasps. The action is so rapid that
obtaining a photograph capturing the precise
fraction of a second when the wings are fully open is almost
impossible.
Unfortunately this is a species that
is highly prized by collectors. In Peru and elsewhere these huge
and magnificent creatures are killed in considerable numbers for
the souvenir trade - good quality specimens find their way into
display boxes that are sold in major towns, cities and airports,
and probably fail to survive the journey back to their purchaser's
homes intact. Damaged specimens are used by the jewellery trade to
make anything from earrings to paperweights.
|
