The Ghostly White Morpho

I am happy to report that we now have white morphos (Morpho polyphemus) in the Butterflies & Blooms exhibit! This ghostly beauty is native to Mexico and Central America including Costa Rica, like its relative the common morpho (Morpho peleides).

The white morpho gets its scientific name from the small eyespots on its wings. Polyphemus, a character in Greek mythology, was the one-eyed son of Poseidon and Thoosa.

Our white morphos can be spotted drinking rotten fruit, which they prefer over plant nectar. This extremely beautiful, iridescent butterfly is not to be missed. She is truly stunning and worth coming out to see!

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©2013 Chicago Botanic Garden and my.chicagobotanic.org

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Courtney Quigley

Horticulturist Courtney Quigley can be found in the Butterflies & Blooms exhibition, where she curates the species featured; mounts and tends the chrysalises, cocoons, and hatching butterflies and moths; and generally deals with all things Lepidoptera.

One thought on “The Ghostly White Morpho”

  1. Thank you for keeping us up on all the exciting new butterflies and moths. You do a great job ! I have been coming out every week since you opened the exhibit and want to thank you and the volunteers for all you do to make this possible for us.

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