Resting Blue Morpho Butterfly Photograph by Karen Adams

Resting Blue Morpho Butterfly

by Karen Adams

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Title

Resting Blue Morpho Butterfly

Artist

Karen Adams

Medium

Photograph - Fine Art Digital Prints - Photography

Description

The Common Blue Morpho butterflies (Morpho peleides) are always the hit of the show at the Franklin Park Conservatory annual exhibit "Blooms & Butterflies." The Conservatory and Botanical Gardens at Franklin Park are treasured gems in the city of Columbus, Ohio. Every year for the entire summer there is a large garden inside the conservatory where butterflies are carefully nurtured to emerge from their chrysalises and then released into the garden. Many different types flutter about with even more folks chasing after them with cell phones and fancy cameras in hand trying to capture their beauty. The most sought after ones, are always the Blue Morphos. The dorsal side is this gorgeous blue, while the ventral is actually a brown with large spots. These are large (5-8" wingspan) and fly about flashing bright blue taunting you to capture that beauty, but as soon as they land, they fold their wings up tight and you only see the brown ventral view.

But! on this day, one Blue Morpho had pity on us all. It was a cloudy day, so I am guessing it was trying to soak in whatever rays of sun were coming in through the clouds and windows of the conservatory. We all helped each other, carefully and quietly pointing him out to others and taking turns to get our photographs of this really lovely butterfly!

Morpho butterfiles are in the Nymphalidae family. There are 29 Morpho species and are among the largest butterflies in the world. They are found in Central and South America.

Reading about these beautiful creatures, I read a very interesting fact: Blue Morpho Butterfly Wings Are Not Actually Blue! Although the most striking aspect of the butterfly’s appearance is its iridescent blue wings. They seem shiny and metallic, but they are not actually blue!

The blue is not caused by pigmentation; it is actually caused by the way light reflects off of microscopic scales on the backs of the butterfly’s wings. The structure of the scales is tetrahedral (pyramid-shaped), and they reflect light. The colors vary depending on the angle from which they are viewed. This means that although the blue morpho’s wings look blue, they aren’t actually blue. This is known as ‘structural coloration.
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As I also mentioned the ventral side of the blue morpho’s wings are a dull brown, with eyespots (ocelli) and other gray, black, and red markings. The colors and markings resemble foliage, and break up the butterfly’s outline. This is known as ‘crypsis’, and provides excellent camouflage when the morpho’s wings are closed. The larger eyespots may deter predators, who at first glance could think the eyes belong to a larger creature.
When the Blue Morpho flies, its wings flash from brilliant blue to dull brown. This makes the butterfly seem to continuously appear and disappear. This makes it harder for a predator to keep track of the morpho, and is known as “flashing”.

I read some of these facts on a great website called activewild.com. You can check that one out for more if your interest has been raised!

I really appreciate you taking time to look at my artwork. Thank you so much!

I am very concerned with our environment and have decided to donate any money I make from any sales of this image to the ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND.....because the Earth needs a good lawyer! We all need to speak up and support efforts to protect our environment. We will not get a second chance!

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