Morpho sulkowskyi
| Sulkowsky's morpho | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Morpho |
| Species: | M. sulkowskyi
|
| Binomial name | |
| Morpho sulkowskyi (Kollar, 1850)
| |
Morpho sulkowskyi, or Sulkowsky's morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
Habitat[edit]
Morpho sulkowskyi is a Tropical Andes cloud forest specialist (above 800 to 1,500 meters as high as 3500 meters). Morpho sulkowskyi and Morpho lympharis are the sole Morphos occupying this habitat.
Taxonomy[edit]
Morpho sulkowskyi and Morpho lympharis may be conspecific. There are several subspecies and many forms have been described.
Subspecies[edit]
- Morpho sulkowskyi sulkowskyi V. Kollar, 1850
- Morpho sulkowskyi hoppiana F.W. Niepelt, 1923
- Morpho sulkowskyi selenaris E. Le Moult & P. Réal, 1962
- Morpho sulkowskyi sirene F.W. Niepelt, 1911
Similar species[edit]
It is very similar to, and maybe conspecific with Morpho lympharis.
Colors[edit]
The color of a Morpho sulkowskyi is white with a holographic shine to them. Both the presence of fluorescent pigments in their wings and the nanostructure of their wings are responsible for the iridescent fluorescence of M. sulkowskyi. The major blue fluorescent pigment contributing to the fluorescence of M. sulkowskyi was found to be L-erythro biopterin, along with minor components of pterin and isoxanthopterin.[2]
References[edit]
- ^ Potyrailo, Radislav A.; Bonam, Ravi K.; Hartley, John G.; Starkey, Timothy A.; Vukusic, Peter; Vasudev, Milana; Bunning, Timothy; Naik, Rajesh R.; Tang, Zhexiong; Palacios, Manuel A.; Larsen, Michael; Le Tarte, Laurie A.; Grande, James C.; Zhong, Sheng; Deng, Tao (2015). "Towards outperforming conventional sensor arrays with fabricated individual photonic vapour sensors inspired by Morpho butterflies". Nature Communications. 6: 7959. Bibcode:2015NatCo...6.7959P. doi:10.1038/ncomms8959. PMC 4569698. PMID 26324320.
- ^ Tabata, H.; Hasegawa, T.; Nakagoshi, M.; Takikawa, S.; Tsusue, M. (1996). "Occurrence of biopterin in the wings of Morpho butterflies". Experientia. 52: 85–87. doi:10.1007/BF01922422. S2CID 26881765.
Further reading[edit]
- 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 234 fig.1 (Brazil) and page 235 fig. 9 as ockendeni (Peru).
External links[edit]
- "Morpho Fabricius, 1807" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
- Butterflies of America Images of type and other specimens.
- Fiebig Photographs.
- Butterfly discoverer: prince Maksymilian Sułkowski
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