| Helenor Morpho (Morpho helenor (Cramer, 1776)) |
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Scientific name: Morpho helenor (Cramer, 1776) Common name: Helenor Morpho Other names: Common Blue Morpho French name: Order: Lepidoptera Suborder: Rhopalocera Family: Nymphalidae Subfamily: Morphinae Wingspan: 95 to 120 mm. Biotope: Tropical rain forests, secondary forests, and also dry forests at low altitudes. Geographic area: Central America and South America, from Mexico to Argentina. Flight time: All year round. Number of generations : Caterpillar: Brown reddish with yellow patches on the upper side and on the lateral sides and tufts of hairs next to the head and to the tail and by thinner pairs on the back. Host plant: Various Fabaceae. |
Morpho helenor is a large butterfly showing important variations depending on location and there are no less than about thirty sub-species. The upper side of the wings is a black or very dark brown colour and shows one blue band extending from the middle of costal edge to the middle of the inner edge on the fore wings, and from the middle of the costal edge to the margin close to the anal angle on the hind wings. There is a small white mark at half length of the costal edge on the fore wings. It is bordered by some black colour on the base side. The blue area can be much larger on some sub-species and can almost extend to the base of the wings and close to the margin. There is an alignment of small white submarginal spots on the fore wings and of small reddish submarginal spots, not always very visible, on the hind wings. The underside of the wings is dark brown to black (I have found pictures of subspecies where this colour appears as rather whitish, this shows how variations are important) with three yellowish white thin lines at the margin of the wings. The line in between is dotted with red on the hind wings. The underside of both wings is crossed by an alignment of large black eyespots, circled with yellow and pupiled with white. There are generally three of them on the fore wings and four on the hind wings. These eyespots are bordered by a white line on the base side. Telling apart species of the Morpho genus is a complicated task. Here is some information found in literature and not based on any personal experience. The first advice is to get the list of all the possible subspecies based on the location of the observation. For French Guiana I have found, Morpho achilles achilles, Morpho deidamia deidamia, Morpho eugenia eugenia, Morpho marcus marcus, Morpho menelaus menelaus, Morpho rhetenor rhetenor, Morpho telemachus telemachus, Morpho hecuba hecuba and Morpho helenor helenor. Morpho deidamia deidamia shows silvery lines and streaks on the base of the underside of the wings while this area is uniformly brown on Morpho helenor helenor. The underside of the wings of Morpho eugenia eugenia is beige and marbled with a pale colour. It only shows two small eyespots on the hind wings while there are four large ones on Morpho helenor helenor. The underside of Morpho marcus marcus' wings is also beige with paler lines in the basal area. The hind wings only shows three eyespots. The outer edge of Morpho menelaus menelaus' fore wings is clearly concave compared to Morpho helenor helenor. The apex appears more sharply pointed. The marginal border on the underside of the wings is less marked. The outer edge of Morpho rhetenor rhetenor's fore wings is even more concave. The dark brown base of the underside of the wings contrasts with the remaining parts which are paler. Morpho telemachus telemachus does not really show any blue colour on the upper side of the wings which is rather silvery grey and black. The underside also shows a difference of colour between the base of the wings and the remaining parts. The eyespots are smaller than on Morpho helenor helenor. The upper side of Morpho hecuba hecuba's wings is black and golden coppery. The base of the underside of the wings shows white, orange and black zigzag patterns. The highest risks of confusion for Morpho helenor helenor are with Morpho achilles achilles. You need to examine the white marginal border on the underside of the hind wings to tell them apart. It remains straight up to the apex of the wing and suddenly stops, even vanishes just before the apex on Morpho achilles achilles. Its maximal width is about at the middle of the outer edge. On Morpho helenor helenor, this border widens at the apex and it turns towards the inside of the wing. Another difference is made by the white patch bordering the middle eyespot on the underside of the fore wings. This patch is often wide and triangular on Morpho achilles achilles while it is crescent-shaped and thinner on Morpho helenor helenor. However this last characteristic is told to be less reliable than the shape of the marginal border of the hind wings. |
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I have shot this picture at Saül while walking along the Gros arbres footpath. It is very nice to see Morphos passing in flight in the shadow of the primary forest. However, their beautiful blue colour, which seems to blink in flight, is no more visible when the butterfly is landed, always holding its wings closed. The underside of the wings, and particularly the shape of the white marginal band on the hind wings, perfectly matches the Morpho helenor helenor species. |
André Bon August 2014