ItalianTermiteMan
Arachnoknight
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2023
- Messages
- 160
Greetings guys, this time i'll share with you a few pics of Caligo and Morpho, two beautiful butterfly genera from the neotropics. These pics have been taken at a local butterfly house, please note that 1) i briefly handled these specimen specifically in a way that don't harm their wings and delicate wing scales and 2) the handiling was done with the consent of the house's owner.
A Caligo. These are large butterflies that feeds mainly on the juice of ripe fruits and sport a very cryptic coloration, with the exception
of a pair of very conspicuous eye-like spots (or simply eye spots) on the hidwings' ventral page. These spots imitate the eyes of a much
larger animal, deterring predators (as per both the "traditional" explaination and the latest research on the matter).
The same specimen with open wings, ventral wiew. Not hard to imagine why the common name of the species in this genus is
"owl butterflies"!
A close-up of the eye spots.
A dorsal wiew of the same Caligo. This species is rather dull here, but some member of the genus are much more colorful.
Switching butterfly, here's a beautiful Morpho, a genus with a distribution and ethology similar to Caligo. Note how it too have eye
spots on the hindwings, thouh three smaller ones per wing rather than a single large one.
Open-wing dorsal wiew of the same specimen, showing the stunning iridescent blue color that makes this genus famous. It's
interesting to know that this beautiful coloration is not the result of a pigment but rather a physical phenomenon, with the scales
on the wings structured in such a way to reflect most blue light, making them appear of that color to our eyes.
A close-up of the previous pic. Even with my horrendous photographical equipment, you can almost discern the individual scales here.
A Caligo. These are large butterflies that feeds mainly on the juice of ripe fruits and sport a very cryptic coloration, with the exception
of a pair of very conspicuous eye-like spots (or simply eye spots) on the hidwings' ventral page. These spots imitate the eyes of a much
larger animal, deterring predators (as per both the "traditional" explaination and the latest research on the matter).
The same specimen with open wings, ventral wiew. Not hard to imagine why the common name of the species in this genus is
"owl butterflies"!
A close-up of the eye spots.
A dorsal wiew of the same Caligo. This species is rather dull here, but some member of the genus are much more colorful.
Switching butterfly, here's a beautiful Morpho, a genus with a distribution and ethology similar to Caligo. Note how it too have eye
spots on the hindwings, thouh three smaller ones per wing rather than a single large one.
Open-wing dorsal wiew of the same specimen, showing the stunning iridescent blue color that makes this genus famous. It's
interesting to know that this beautiful coloration is not the result of a pigment but rather a physical phenomenon, with the scales
on the wings structured in such a way to reflect most blue light, making them appear of that color to our eyes.
A close-up of the previous pic. Even with my horrendous photographical equipment, you can almost discern the individual scales here.
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