THE BLUE MORPHO BUTTERFLY

THE BLUE
MORPHO
BUTTERFLY
BY: AMANDA WIMMER
• CHAPTER 1 •
LIFE CYCLE OF A BLUE MORPHO BUTTERFLY
Life Cycle of a Butterfly
4. Adult Butterfly
The Blue Morpho Butterfly goes through four
stages of metamorphosis. All together these
four stages last 115 days.
Stages of Metamorphosis
Stages of Metamorphosis
2
• CHAPTER 2 •
BUTTERFLY ANATOMY
The butterfly has three main body regions; the head,
thorax, abdomen, and the wings.
Butterfly Anatomy
The Thorax
The Head
The Abdomen
Forewings
Hind-wings
• CHAPTER 3 •
HABITAT OF A BUTTERFLY
Blue Morpho Butterflies typically live in tropical
forests of Central America and Mexico. Adult
butterflies will stay at the bottom of the forest floor,
unless they are looking for a mate. Then, they will
fly through all layers of the forest looking for a
mate. When they are not looking for a mate, they
spend a lot of their time by the river where their
bright colors are most visible.
• CHAPTER 4 •
LIFE SPAN
The life span of a Blue
Morpho Butterfly is
115 days.
• CHAPTER 5 •
WHAT THEY EAT
Actually, butterflies don’t eat at all, they drink.
Butterflies drink the fluids of fruit, sap from trees, fungi,
and nutrient rich mud.
• CHAPTER 6 •
HOW AND WHEN THEY EAT
The butterfly uses its proboscis, or tongue, as a straw
and sucks the nectar from the flowers. Butterflies
usually go out and eat during the day when the sun is
warm enough for them to be active.
• CHAPTER 7 •
Kingdom: Animalia
CLASSIFICATION
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Morpho
Species: Menelaus
Blue Morpho Butterfly
• CHAPTER 8 •
STRANGE FACTS
• The male butterflies have brighter wings
compared to female butterflies. The female Blue
Morpho Butterfly has dull blue wings, with small
white spots and brown edges.
•A butterfly cannot fly if their body temperature is
lower than 86 degrees.
• Butterflies use their feet to taste instead of their
tongues.
• The only continent that has no butterflies is
Antarctica.
• Butterflies skeletons are on the outside of their
bodies.
RESOURCES
• http://www.buzzle.com/articles/butterfly-metamorphosis.html
• http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/nature/news-seven-stunning-natural-works-art-known-butterflies?image=3
• http://mrnussbaum.com/amazon/blue_morpho/
• http://www.auduboninstitute.org/animals/butterflies-flight/blue-morpho-butterfly-16376
• http://www.thebutterflysite.com/facts.shtml
• http://www.roxannereid.co.za/1/post/2011/11/10-weird-and-wacky-facts-about-butterflies.html