Morpho laertes explained

Morpho laertes (formerly Morpho epistrophus), the White morpho or Epistrophus white morpho, is a Neotropical butterfly found in Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina. The white morpho is native to the Atlantic Forest, where they are distributed throughout a landscape of multiple species.  

Description

In 1913, Hans Fruhstorfer wrote in Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde:

Taxonomy

When first described in 1782 laertes was placed in the genus Papilio. The specimen was from Brasília. It is a valid name in The Global Lepidoptera Names Index.

Currently it is placed in the subgenus Pessonia (Le Moult & Réal 1962) of genus Morpho, along with the closely related species Morpho catenarius (Perry, 1811), Morpho luna (Butler), Morpho polyphemus (Dixey), and Morpho titei (Drury, 1770). It is now considered a junior synonym of Morpho epistrophus.

Etymology

The name comes from Laërtes, a figure in Greek mythology. Epistrophus is a character in the Iliad.

Subspecies

Subspecies in alphabetical order:

• Morpho epistrophus argentinus H. Fruhstorfer, 1907
• Morpho epistrophus catenaria Perry, 1811
• Morpho epistrophus epistrophus (J.C. Fabricius, 1796) = Morpho laertes Drury 1782
• Morpho epistrophus titei E. Le Moult & P. Réal, 1962

Bibliography

• Blandin, P. 2007. The genus Morpho, Lepidoptera Nymphalidae. Part 3. The Subgenera Pessonia, Grasseia and Morpho and Addenda to Parts 1 & 2. Hillside Books, Canterbury
• Le Moult (E.) & Réal (P.) (1962–1963). "Les Morpho d'Amérique du Sud et Centrale." Editions du cabinet entomologique. E. Le Moult, Paris.

External links

• Osaka University Images of M. laertes
• "Morpho Fabricius, 1807" at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms with taxonomy and subspecies
• Butterflies of America Images of type and other specimens.