Bug card No. 0574 of 1,500
Giant blue morpho
Morpho didius
The giant blue morpho is a huge butterfly with wings that shine metallic blue, like a piece of the sky. Its wings can be 15 centimetres across, as wide as a grown-up's hand. It is one of the biggest of all the morpho butterflies.
Lives in
The rainforests of Peru in South America
Wingspan
15 cm (5.9 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It is a gentle butterfly.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillars feed on palm trees.
How big is it?
How wide are its wings?
✋wings as wide as your hand⚽could fly across a whole football pitch in 16 seconds
How big is Giant blue morpho compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Giant blue morpho about 24 km/h (15 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
A car driving in town about 50 km/h (31 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
The shiny blue is only on the top side of its wings.
2
Its front wings are long and pointed.
3
Some scientists think it is not its own species but a kind of the blue morpho Morpho menelaus.
you asked
Most asked questions about Giant blue morpho
?How big is the giant blue morpho?
Its wings can reach 15 centimetres from tip to tip.
?Where does the giant blue morpho live?
In Peru, in South America.
?What does the giant blue morpho caterpillar eat?
It feeds on palm trees.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Morpho didius
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
- Lives on
- South America
- Also known as
- Metallic blue morpho
Where the facts come from
- Morpho didius (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Didier Descouens. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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