Subject
''Literature and butterflies are the two sweetest passions known
to man" ...' (fwd)
to man" ...' (fwd)
From
Date
Body
From: Sandy P. Klein <spklein52@hotmail.com>
New York Times Magazine
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/12/magazine/magazinespecial/12END.html
May 12, 2002
ENDPAPER
HOME OF THE BLUE MORPHO BUTTERFLY
By LYNNE CHRISTENSEN
[spacer.gif]
[28endpaper.184.jpg]
Kevin Schafer
Morpho peleides.
S pecies: Morpho peleides
Habitat: Tropical forests
Range: Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela
''Literature and butterflies are the two sweetest passions known to
man,'' Vladimir Nabokov, the novelist and lepidopterist, once wrote.
There are 20,000 species of butterfly, and one of the most dramatic is
the morpho peleides, large and cobalt blue, which lives in Central and
South America and is particularly plentiful in Costa Rica.
Dwelling in a canopy of rain forests, the saucer-size morphos (with a
five- to six-inch wingspan) sparkle like blue gems. Their iridescent
wings are the result of a microstructure on their upper surface that
refracts light, causing them to shimmer as the butterflies bask in the
sun.
''In all of the Neotropics there are few sights more spectacular than
watching the flight of a male morpho lazily sail above the canopy of the
rain forest or along a river on a brilliantly sunny day,'' wrote Philip
J. DeVries in ''The Butterflies of Costa Rica and Their Natural
History.''
Morphos start life as an egg laid on the leaf of one of a select few
rain-forest plants. The egg hatches into a larva, which in the case of
morpho peleides is a bright red-and-yellow caterpillar with a triangular
head capsule covered with stiff hairs. The larva forms into a pale green
egg-shape pupa. Then the eternally magical process of metamorphosis
transforms the green blob into the magnificent morpho, which has a
fleeting life of just three or four weeks.
Morphos use their long, strawlike proboscis to feed on the juices of
rotting rain-forest fruits. When feeding and sleeping they close up their
wings, hiding the brilliant blue outer surface. The under surface is
mottled brown with several eyespots that provide camouflage.
As morphos fly, the different colors of the upper and underside of their
wings create a visual illusion that can confuse birds and other
predators. The morphos seem to bounce along in the air, exhibiting
flashes of blue as they flap their bicolored wings. But, according to Mr.
DeVries, the slow, floppy wing beats can immediately accelerate into a
wild, swooping flight when danger is near.
New York Times Magazine
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/12/magazine/magazinespecial/12END.html
May 12, 2002
ENDPAPER
HOME OF THE BLUE MORPHO BUTTERFLY
By LYNNE CHRISTENSEN
[spacer.gif]
[28endpaper.184.jpg]
Kevin Schafer
Morpho peleides.
S pecies: Morpho peleides
Habitat: Tropical forests
Range: Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela
''Literature and butterflies are the two sweetest passions known to
man,'' Vladimir Nabokov, the novelist and lepidopterist, once wrote.
There are 20,000 species of butterfly, and one of the most dramatic is
the morpho peleides, large and cobalt blue, which lives in Central and
South America and is particularly plentiful in Costa Rica.
Dwelling in a canopy of rain forests, the saucer-size morphos (with a
five- to six-inch wingspan) sparkle like blue gems. Their iridescent
wings are the result of a microstructure on their upper surface that
refracts light, causing them to shimmer as the butterflies bask in the
sun.
''In all of the Neotropics there are few sights more spectacular than
watching the flight of a male morpho lazily sail above the canopy of the
rain forest or along a river on a brilliantly sunny day,'' wrote Philip
J. DeVries in ''The Butterflies of Costa Rica and Their Natural
History.''
Morphos start life as an egg laid on the leaf of one of a select few
rain-forest plants. The egg hatches into a larva, which in the case of
morpho peleides is a bright red-and-yellow caterpillar with a triangular
head capsule covered with stiff hairs. The larva forms into a pale green
egg-shape pupa. Then the eternally magical process of metamorphosis
transforms the green blob into the magnificent morpho, which has a
fleeting life of just three or four weeks.
Morphos use their long, strawlike proboscis to feed on the juices of
rotting rain-forest fruits. When feeding and sleeping they close up their
wings, hiding the brilliant blue outer surface. The under surface is
mottled brown with several eyespots that provide camouflage.
As morphos fly, the different colors of the upper and underside of their
wings create a visual illusion that can confuse birds and other
predators. The morphos seem to bounce along in the air, exhibiting
flashes of blue as they flap their bicolored wings. But, according to Mr.
DeVries, the slow, floppy wing beats can immediately accelerate into a
wild, swooping flight when danger is near.