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Morpho (genus)
The morpho butterflies comprise many species of Neotropical butterfly under the genus ''Morpho''. This genus includes more than 29 accepted species and 147 accepted subspecies, found mostly in South America, Mexico, and Central America. ''Morpho'' wingspans range from for '' M. rhodopteron'' to for ''M. hecuba'', the imposing sunset morpho. The name ''morpho'', meaning "changed" or "modified", is also an epithet. Blue morphos are severely threatened by the deforestation of tropical forests and habitat fragmentation. Humans provide a direct threat to this spectacular creature because their beauty attracts artists and collectors from all over the globe who wish to capture and display them. Aside from humans, birds like the jacamar and flycatcher are the adult butterfly’s natural predators. Taxonomy and nomenclature Many names attach to the genus ''Morpho''. The genus has also been divided into subgenera. Hundreds of form, variety, and aberration names are used among ''Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morpho Didius
''Morpho didius'', the giant blue morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly belonging to the subfamily Morphinae of family Nymphalidae. It is considered, by some authors, to be a subspecies of ''Morpho menelaus''. Description ''Morpho didius'' has a wingspan reaching , making it one of the largest of ''Morpho'' species. The dorsal side of the wings are iridescent and metallic blue, and the forewings are quite elongated. Distribution This species can be found in Peru. Biology The larva feeds on palm trees. ReferencesBioLib.cz at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms'' Images of |
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Central America consists of eight countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Within Central America is the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, which extends from northern Guatemala to central Panama. Due to the presence of several active geologic faults and the Central America Volcanic Arc, there is a high amount of seismic activity in the region, such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes which has resulted in death, injury, and property damage. In the pre-Columbian era, Central America was inhabited by the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica to the north and west and the Isthmo-Colombian peoples to the south and east. Following the Spanish expedition of Christopher Columbus' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morpho Richardus
''Morpho richardus'', or Richard's morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly found only in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Description Male indefinite greenish, female of yellowish bronze green. Both above and beneath like a small '' M. hercules''. Forewing with three rows of submarginal yellow dots. The patch before the apex of the cell broadly dull gold yellow, with scattered black scales. Discal area of the forewing yellowish. Distal margin rather narrow, brown black, base of both wings light green. Under surface: forewing with four small, elongate ocelli of about uniform size, with narrow black irises. Proximally to the ocelli there are three very large, triangular grey-yellow median spots. Underside of the hindwing predominantly red brown with violet sheen. Median band grey violet. Length of the forewing 58 mm.Fruhstorfer, H., 1913. Family: Morphidae. In A. Seitz (editor), ''Macrolepidoptera of the World'', vol. 5: 333–356. Stuttgart: Alfred Kernen. Biology The larva feeds on '' Abuta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morpho Hercules
''Morpho hercules'', the Hercules morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly found in Brazil and Paraguay. Description Upper surface grey green. Forewing with two rows of submarginal yellow dots, of which the proximal are considerably broader than the antemarginal. Patch before the apex of the cell narrow, dark green, subobsolete. Cell black green. Discal area glossy dark green. Distal border broad, deep black. Base of the forewing dark, of the hindwing somewhat lighter sea green. Under surface: forewing bearing two very large rounded ocelli between the medians and two much smaller ones between the upper radial and the upper median. The proximal median spots narrow, irregular. Discal spot black. Cell with two very broad white longitudinal bands, posteriorly confluent. Hindwing predominantly red brown with a silver-white median band about 3 mm in breadth. There are three anal ocelli with black irises. Biology The larva feeds on Musaceae and Menispermaceae ('' Abuta selloana''). Ety ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morpho Amphitryon
''Morpho amphitryon'' is a Neotropical butterfly. Description ''Morpho amphitryon'' is a very large butterfly with a wingspan of 150–160 mm. The top of the wings is a blue grey metallic colour with a wide grey border embellished by a submarginal row of white spots. The outer edge of the forewing is concave and the hindwings have a scalloped edge. "''amphitrion'' Stgr. s race of ''Morpho theseus'' from Chanchamayo, South Peru, has the forewing much elongated, with the cell blue-grey. Males also occur with the upper surface suffused with blue-white throughout."Fruhstorfer, H. 1913. Family: Morphidae. In A. Seitz (editor), ''Macrolepidoptera of the World'', vol. 5: 333–356. Stuttgart: Alfred Kernen. Habitat ''Morpho amphitryon'' lives in Andean montane forests at altitudes from 700 to 2000 metres above sea level. Status ''Morpho amphitryon'' is a Rare species">"scarce" or rare species. Subspecies *''M. a. amphitryon'' (Peru) *''M. a. azurita'' Duchêne et Blandin, 2009 * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species Group
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each other, further blurring any distinctions. Terms that are sometimes used synonymously but have more precise meanings are cryptic species for two or more species hidden under one species name, sibling species for two (or more) species that are each other's closest relative, and species flock for a group of closely related species that live in the same habitat. As informal taxonomic ranks, species group, species aggregate, macrospecies, and superspecies are also in use. Two or more taxa that were once considered conspecific (of the same species) may later be subdivided into infraspecific taxa (taxa within a species, such as bacterial strains or plant varieties), that is complex but it is not a species complex. A species complex is in most ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aphrodite
Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion (emotion), passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols include Myrtle (common), myrtles, roses, doves, Old World sparrow, sparrows, and swans. The cult of Aphrodite was largely derived from that of the Ancient Canaanite religion, Phoenician goddess Astarte, a cognate of the East Semitic goddess Ishtar, whose cult was based on the Sumerian religion, Sumerian cult of Inanna. Aphrodite's main cult centers were Kythira, Cythera, Cyprus, Corinth, and Athens. Her main festival was the Aphrodisia, which was celebrated annually in midsummer. In Laconia, Aphrodite was worshipped as a warrior goddess. She was also the patron goddess of Prostitution in ancient Greece, prostitutes, an association which led early scholars to propose the concept of "sacred prostitution" in Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cladism
Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived characteristics (synapomorphies'')'' that are not present in more distant groups and ancestors. However, from an empirical perspective, common ancestors are inferences based on a cladistic hypothesis of relationships of taxa whose character states can be observed. Theoretically, a last common ancestor and all its descendants constitute a (minimal) clade. Importantly, all descendants stay in their overarching ancestral clade. For example, if the terms ''worms'' or ''fishes'' were used within a ''strict'' cladistic framework, these terms would include humans. Many of these terms are normally used paraphyletically, outside of cladistics, e.g. as a ' grade', which are fruitless to precisely delineate, especially when including extinct species. R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lepidopterist
Lepidopterology ()) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies. Someone who studies in this field is a lepidopterist or, archaically, an aurelian. Origins Post- Renaissance, the rise of the "lepidopterist" can be attributed to the expanding interest in science, nature and the surroundings. When Linnaeus wrote the tenth edition of the ''Systema Naturae'' in 1758, there was already "a substantial body of published work on Lepidopteran natural history" (Kristensen, 1999). These included: * ''Insectorum sive Minimorum Animalium Theatrum'' – Thomas Mouffet (1634) * ''Metamorphosis Naturalis'' – Jan Goedart (1662–67 ) * ''Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium'' – Maria S. Merian (1705), whose work included illustrated accounts of European Lepidoptera * ''Historia Insectorum'' – John Ray (1710) * ''Papilionum Brittaniae icones'' – James Petiver (1717) History Scholars 1758–1900 was the era of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jacamar
The jacamars are a family, Galbulidae, of near passerine birds from tropical South and Central America, extending up to Mexico. The family contains five genera and 18 species. The family is closely related to the puffbirds, another Neotropical family, and the two families are often separated into their own order, Galbuliformes, separate from the Piciformes. They are principally birds of low-altitude woodlands and forests, and particularly of forest edge and canopy. Taxonomy The placement of the combined puffbird and jacamar lineage was in question, with some bone and muscle features suggesting they may be more closely related to the Coraciiformes. However, analysis of nuclear DNA in a 2003 study placed them as sister group to the rest of the Piciformes, also showing that the groups had developed zygodactyl feet before separating. Per Ericson and colleagues, in analysing genomic DNA, confirmed that puffbirds and jacamars were sister groups and their place in Piciformes. Descript ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Habitat Fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological processes that slowly alter the layout of the physical environment (suspected of being one of the major causes of speciation), and human activity such as land conversion, which can alter the environment much faster and causes the extinction of many species. More specifically, habitat fragmentation is a process by which large and contiguous habitats get divided into smaller, isolated patches of habitats. Definition The term habitat fragmentation includes five discrete phenomena: * Reduction in the total area of the habitat * Decrease of the interior: edge ratio * Isolation of one habitat fragment from other areas of habitat * Breaking up of one patch of habitat into several smaller patches * Decrease in the average size of each patch of hab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
