What is Morpho?
{{Italic title}} {{Taxobox | name = Morpho butterflies | image = Morpho_didius_Male_Dos_MHNT.jpg | image_caption = ''Morpho didius'' – Museum specimen | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Arthropod]]a | classis = [[Insect]]a | ordo = [[Lepidoptera]] | familia = [[Brush-footed butterfly|Nymphalidae]] | subfamilia = [[Morphinae]] | genus = '''''Morpho'''''}} A '''''Morpho''''' is a [[butterfly]] in one of over 29 [[species]] and 147 [[subspecies]] in the [[genus]] ''Morpho''. Morphos are [[Neotropic]]al butterflies found mostly in [[South America]], [[Mexico]] and [[Central America]].<ref>Le Moult E. & Réal P. 1962–1963. ''Les Morpho d'Amérique du Sud et Centrale'', Editions du cabinet entomologique E. Le Moult, Paris.</ref> Morphos range in wingspan from the 7.5&nbsp;cm (3&nbsp;inch) ''[[Morpho rhodopteron|M. rhodopteron]]'' to the imposing 20&nbsp;cm (8&nbsp;inch) [[Sunset Morpho]], ''M. hecuba''. == Colours == Many Morpho butterflies are coloured in metallic, shimmering shades of [[blue]] and [[green]]. These colours are not caused by [[pigment]]. They are an example of [[iridescence]]: light reflects through the microscopic scales covering the Morpho's wings.<ref>{{cite journal |author=P. Vukusic ''et al'' 1999 |title=Quantified interference and diffraction in single Morpho butterfly scales |journal=Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B |year=1999 |volume=266 |pages=1403–11 |url=http://newton.ex.ac.uk/research/emag/butterflies/pdf/Vukusic_Morpho.pdf |doi=10.1098/rspb.1999.0794 |issue=1427 |pmc=1690093 |access-date=2013-08-08 |archive-date=2011-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716081623/http://newton.ex.ac.uk/research/emag/butterflies/pdf/Vukusic_Morpho.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> === Sexual dimorphism === The blue Morpho species have [[sexual dimorphism]]. In some species only the males are iridescent blue, the females are [[camouflage]]d brown and yellow. In other species the females are partially iridescent but less blue than the males. == Biology == [[Image:Atlantic Forest.jpg|thumb|250px|Atlant