Morpho peleides is found on the mainland of South America from Ecuador through Colombia to the Guayanas. The Central American M. hyacinthus and M. montezuma are closely related, but considered distinct species.

Subgenus Morpho with 31 species comprises the rest of the Morpho family. Generally hard to tell apart, they are often simply called Morpho "achilles." The group exhibits mimicry and convergent evolution. The taxonomy is as complicated as the Heliconids. Similar species have been grouped together here.

   SPECIES                  LOCATION

  Morpho deidamia           Venezuela & east Brazil & Bolivia  
  Morpho neoptolemus        Peru to Obidos, Brazil to Colombia  
  Morpho brisseis           Peru  
  Morpho hermione           Colombia
  Morpho electra            Bolivia and Venezuela (Disjoint)
  
  Morpho lycanor            Colombia to Venezuela    
  Morpho granadensis        Colombia to Central America  

  Morpho rugitaeniata       Colombia  
  Morpho micropthalmus      Colombia  
  Morpho taboga             Isle off Panama

  Morpho peleides           Venezuela and south Colombia  
  Morpho marinita           Costa Rica and Panama  
  Morpho montezuma          Mexico to Panama  
  Morpho octavia            Guatemala to Costa Rica to Panama
  Morpho hyacinthus         Mexico to Panama  
  Morpho corydon            Venezuela and Colombia  
  Morpho confusa            Colombia  
  Morpho peleus             Venezuela  
  Morpho tobagensis         Caribbean  
  Morpho parallela          North South America  

  Morpho helenor            Peru to Colombia to Obidos, Brazil  
  Morpho papirius           Peru  
  Morpho achilleana         East Brazil and Amazon Basin  
  Morpho trojana            Brazil and local populations  
  Morpho leontius           widespread in South America  
  Morpho coelestis          Bolivia and eastward  

  Morpho achilles           Venez. to Obidos, Brazil, to
                            Columbia & Argentina (Disjoint)  
  Morpho patroclus          Peru to Colombia  
  Morpho pseudogamedes      Peru to Colombia  
  Morpho guaraunos          Bolivia and Venezuela (Disjoint)  

  Morpho vitrea             Bolivia and Venezuela (Disjoint)  

Morpho neoptolemus-deidamia subgroup is found from Peru to  Colombia to eastern Brazil. This group can be recognized by the silver streaking pattern on the underside of the wings.

Morpho helenor subgroup (helenor, papirius, achilleana, trojana, leontius, and coelestis) generally has a rear wing rounded at the corner farthest from the body near the front wing. Their rear wings are more rounded than in the Morpho achilles subgroup.

Morpho achilles subgroup (achilles, patroclus, pseudogamedes, and guaraunos) has a less rounded rear wing than the Morpho helenor subgroup. The corner of the rear wing farthest from the body has a sharper corner than in the M. helenor subgroup. This sharper corner can be noticed very easily by studying the marginal pattern on the underside of the rear wing. In the achilles subgroup, this pattern ends abruptly along the edge of the rear wing toward the front wings. In the M. helenor subgroup, these marginal lines tend to flow around the corner. There are several mimicry pairs between the Morpho achilles and Morpho helenor subgroups.

Morpho butterflies (Family Morphodae) are characterized by their large size and brilliant blue colors. They typically have small bodies and fly with a floating or soaring style. They are found only in the American tropics from Mexico to Southern Brazil.

Because of the brilliant blue colors, large size, and beautiful patterns, many species of these Morphos were used for art work projects from l930 to l990. Cities such as Tingo Maria (Peru), Obidos (Brazil), Santa Catarina (Brazil), and Muzo (Colombia) had networks of collectors that exported large quantities of these beautiful butterflies. Fortunately, the reproductive powers of these species were great, and the collecting seems to have had little impact on the quantity in nature. However, land clearing projects in the natural habitats will impact their populations.

This group's taxonomy is very complicated. For extensive information refer to the Le Moult and Real revision of "Les Morpho D'Amerique Du Sud Et Centrale" published by Le Moult in l962. Prior to this Le Moult revision, there were hundreds of different named forms. Le Moult reduced the species to less than 80 species, and showed that there are some cases of convergent evolution in the family and some surprising mimicry pairs.

Le Moult's work has not generally been accepted by the lepidopterists community. This is no doubt partially because it is in French, and partially because the taxonomy is so complicated that many people do not have the patience to unravel the complicated problems. However, the serious butterfly student will be really rewarded when he can understand that Morpho achilles and Morpho helenor are really a mimicry pair and not sibling species.

Morphos are divided into several different subgenera. The subgenus name is used in several instances as opposed to the common term "Morpho."

Butterflies and Moths (Order Lepidoptera) are a group of insects with four large wings. They go through various life cycles including eggs, caterpillar (larvae), pupae, and adult. Most butterflies and moths feed as adults, but primarily do most of their growing in the larval or caterpillar stage. Also, most species are restricted to feeding as caterpillars upon a unique set of plants. In this pairing of insects to plants, there arises a unique plant population control system. When one plant species becomes too common, specific pests to that species also become more common and thus prevent the further spreading of that particular plant species.

Although most people think of the Lepidoptera as two different groups: butterflies and moths, technically, the concept is not valid.

Some families, such as Silk Moths (Saturnidae) and Hawk Moths (Sphingidae), are clearly moths. Other families, such as Swallowtail Butterflies (Papilionidae), are clearly butterflies, However, several families exhibit characteristics that appear to be neither moths nor butterflies. For example: the Castnia Moths of South America are frequently placed in the Skipper Family (Hesperidae). The Sunset Moths (Uranidae) have long narrow antennae and fly during the day.

Note: Numerous museums and biologists have loaned specimens to be photographed for this project.

Insects (Class Insecta) are the most successful animals on Earth if success is measured by the number of species or the total number of living organisms. This class contains more than a million species, of which North America has approximately 100,000.

Insects have an exoskeleton. The body is divided into three parts. The foremost part, the head, usually bears two antennae. The middle part, the thorax, has six legs and usually four wings. The last part, the abdomen, is used for breathing and reproduction.

Although different taxonomists divide the insects differently, about thirty-five different orders are included in most of the systems.

The following abbreviated list identifies some common orders of the many different orders of insects discussed herein:

   Odonata:      Dragon and Damsel Flies
   Orthoptera:   Grasshoppers and Mantids
   Homoptera:    Cicadas and Misc. Hoppers
   Diptera:      Flies and Mosquitoes
   Hymenoptera:  Ants, Wasps, and Bees
   Lepidoptera:  Butterflies and Moths
   Coleoptera:   Beetles

Jointed Legged Animals (Phylum Arthropoda) make up the largest phylum. There are probably more than one million different species of arthropods known to science. It is also the most successful animal phylum in terms of the total number of living organisms.

Butterflies, beetles, grasshoppers, various insects, spiders, and crabs are well-known arthropods.

The phylum is usually broken into the following five main classes:

   Arachnida:      Spiders and Scorpions
   Crustacea:      Crabs and Crayfish
   Chilopoda:      Centipedes
   Diplopoda:      Millipedes
   Insecta:        Insects

There are several other "rare" classes in the arthropods that should be mentioned. A more formal list is as follows:

   Sub Phylum Chelicerata

     C. Arachnida:      Spiders and scorpions
     C. Pycnogonida:    Sea spiders (500 species)
     C. Merostomata:    Mostly fossil species

   Sub Phylum Mandibulata

     C. Crustacea:      Crabs and crayfish
      
   Myriapod Group

     C. Chilopoda:      Centipedes
     C. Diplopoda:      Millipedes
     C. Pauropoda:      Tiny millipede-like
     C. Symphyla:       Garden centipedes

   Insect Group

     C. Insecta:        Insects

The above list does not include some extinct classes of Arthropods such as the Trilobites.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.