The
Peleides Blue Morpho,
Common Morpho,or
The Emperor (
Morpho peleides) is an
iridescent tropical
butterfly found in
Mexico,
Central America, northern
South America, Paraguay, and
Trinidad.
The brilliant blue color in the butterfly's wings is caused by the diffraction of the light from millions of tiny scales on its wings. It uses this to frighten away predators, by flashing its wings rapidly. The wingspan of the Blue Morpho butterfly ranges from 7.5–20 cm (3.0–7.9 in). The entire Blue Morpho butterfly lifecycle, from egg to adult is only 115 days