Although Pacific Science Center's Tropical Butterfly House provides a great immersive learning experience, it is a hard place to focus on an individual butterfly or species. Everything is in motion, nothing is highlighted. To help our visitors better understand the many fluttering insects they encounter, we introduce our Butterfly of the Month!
Morpho polyphemus - White Handkerchief
- Range: Costa Rica to Mexico.
- The only pure white
shining butterfly species in Central America and our
Tropical Butterfly House. This Morpho is related to our
popular Blue Morpho (Morpho peleides) butterfly.
- Two Morphos spiraling around each other does not mean courtship activity but rather territorial activity. They will chase other butterflies out of their territory - even different species.
- These butterflies are more active at certain times of the day. Is this one of those times?
In the coming months, look for a diverse group of species. We try to highlight a different aspect of butterflies each month. Sometimes we focus on behavior, such as courtship or energy use. Other months we will showcase less colorful butterfly species with fascinating adaptations. Occasionally, species may only be available seasonally, and we will try to show them off while they are here.