Morpho cypris

Cypris morpho
	Plate from Adalbert Seitz showing a male and female.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Morpho
Species:	M. cypris
Binomial name
	Morpho cypris; (Westwood, 1851)

Last updated June 02, 2024

Morpho cypris, the Cypris morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly. It is found in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago and Ecuador. Several subspecies and many forms have been described.

Description

Morpho cypris replaces M. rhetenor in Colombia and Central America and one might strictly speaking unite it with the latter as a geographical branch unless the anatomy shows essential differences, M. cypris is here, however, kept separate on account of the rounded shape of the forewing and the somewhat more vertically placed white median band of the upper surface, M. cypris and M. helena outshine even the other Morphids in their incomparable gloss and M. cypris in particular is a true gem, unequalled in its brilliance throughout the whole of nature (Schatz). According to the fall of the light the blue of this incomparable insect shows a more violet or more greenish gloss and the delicate white band a yellowish tone or more of a tinge of rose colour. The blue is of such ethereal purity and such intensive lustre that all the other colours appear faded or dull in comparison. Only the Malayo-Australian Ornithoptera can outrival the Morphids, adding as they do to the brilliance of their golden green colouring the further charm of a quite distinguished form and wing contour. The scaling itself, as in M. rhetenor, remains fixed, but the interference scales are wanting in the normal females so that these are of the primitive yellowish ochreous (brassolid) ground colour common to all the species of the M. adonis group.^[1]

Etymology

Cypris is another name for Aphrodite, a beautiful Greek goddess.

Related Research Articles

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 7.5 cm (3.0 in) for M. rhodopteron to 20 cm (7.9 in) 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.

Morpho achilles, the Achilles morpho, blue-banded morpho, or banded blue morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly.

<i>Morpho helenor</i> Species of butterfly

Morpho helenor, the Helenor blue morpho or common blue morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly found throughout Central and South America from Mexico to Argentina. It is a species group that may or may not be several species. Many subspecies have been described.

Morpho deidamia, the Deidamia morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly. It is found in Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Suriname, Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil. It is a species group, which may be, or may not be several species. Many subspecies have been described.

Morpho aega, the Aega morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly found in Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil.

<i>Morpho aurora</i> Species of butterfly

Morpho aurora, the Aurora morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly found in Bolivia and Peru.

Morpho theseus, the Theseus morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly. It is found in Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Honduras and Guatemala.

Morpho portis is a Neotropical butterfly. It is found in Brazil, Uruguay, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and Paraguay. Several subspecies and many forms have been described. The larvae feed on Gramineae.

<i>Morpho sulkowskyi</i> Species of butterfly

Morpho sulkowskyi, or Sulkowsky's morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Morpho rhetenor, the Rhetenor blue morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela.

<i>Morpho richardus</i> Species of butterfly

Morpho richardus, or Richard's morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly found only in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

<i>Morpho amathonte</i> Species of butterfly

Morpho amathonte is a Neotropical butterfly belonging to the subfamily Morphinae of the family Nymphalidae. It is considered, by some authors, to be a subspecies of Morpho menelaus.

<i>Morpho cisseis</i> Species of butterfly

Morpho cisseis, the Cisseis morpho, is a large Neotropical butterfly found in the southern and western Amazon in Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil. It includes several subspecies, but has itself sometimes been treated as a subspecies of the sunset morpho. Both are highly valued by collectors.

<i>Morpho anaxibia</i> Species of butterfly

Morpho anaxibia, the Anaxibia morpho, is a species of Neotropical butterfly endemic to Brazil.

<i>Morpho lympharis</i> Species of butterfly

Morpho lympharis, the Lympharis morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly found in Peru and Bolivia.

<i>Morpho laertes</i> Species of butterfly

Morpho laertes, the White morpho or Epistrophus white morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly found in Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina. The white morpho is native to the Atlantic Forest, where they are distributed throughout a landscape of multiple species.

Morpho amphitryon is a Neotropical butterfly.

Morpho telemachus is a Neotropical butterfly.

Morpho uraneis is a Neotropical butterfly. It is found in Brazil and Ecuador.

Morpho niepelti is a Neotropical butterfly.

References

↑ Fruhstorfer, H., 1913. Family: Morphidae. In A. Seitz (editor),Macrolepidoptera of the world,vol. 5: 333–356. Stuttgart: Alfred Kernen.

Le Moult (E.) & Réal (P.), 1962–1963. Les Morpho d'Amérique du Sud et Centrale, Editions du cabinet entomologique E. Le Moult, Paris.
Paul Smart, 1976 The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Butterfly World in Color. London, Salamander: Encyclopedie des papillons. Lausanne, Elsevier Sequoia (French language edition) ISBN 9780948427046 ISBN 0600313816 page 232 fig.2 (Colombia).

External links

"Morpho Fabricius, 1807" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
Butterflies of America Images of type and other specimens.
Fiebig Photographs, including microphotography of the scales.

This Morphinae article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Fruhstorfer,_H.-1] Fruhstorfer, H., 1913. Family: Morphidae. In A. Seitz (editor),Macrolepidoptera of the world,vol. 5: 333–356. Stuttgart: Alfred Kernen.

[1]